McLaren is back at the front of Formula 1, but Andrea Stella believes Monza will provide the decisive test of whether the MCL40’s resurgence can be sustained across the rest of the 2026 season. Victories and front-running pace in Hungary and at Zandvoort have confirmed that the Woking team can fight for wins again, yet the Italian Grand Prix will expose the car to a completely different set of demands.
The picture inside McLaren is also becoming increasingly fascinating. Lando Norris is driving with growing confidence and maturity, while Oscar Piastri continues to lose performance when grip levels fall and he is forced away from his natural driving style. At the same time, Andrea Stella is refusing to believe Mercedes’ suggestion that development of the W17 has effectively stopped.
McLaren is back at the top but Monza will provide the real test
McLaren’s return is no longer simply an impression created by one favourable weekend or one circuit that happened to suit the car. After winning in Hungary, the team confirmed its competitiveness again at Zandvoort, completing a technical recovery that has restored it to the group capable of fighting consistently at the front.
The improvement forms part of a broader step forward in McLaren’s 2026 campaign, with the MCL40 now operating at a substantially more competitive level than during the opening phase of the season.
Andrea Stella, however, wants one more piece of evidence before extending that conclusion across the remaining races.
That evidence will come at Monza.
“If we think about the characteristics required at Zandvoort and in Hungary and then those of Monza, we enter a completely different context,” Andrea Stella explained. “If we can confirm our progress at Monza as well, then we will be able to look at the rest of the season with a certain degree of optimism.”
Why Monza could expose the MCL40’s remaining weaknesses
Andrea Stella’s caution is based on technical considerations. The MCL40 has now established itself as one of Formula 1’s reference cars on high-downforce circuits, but Monza will emphasise areas in which McLaren has yet to prove it has reached the same standard.
“We need to verify that our car can perform well on the long straights,” Andrea Stella said. “We know that aerodynamic drag is not necessarily one of the strengths of our car. There are also a lot of braking zones, another area that is not necessarily one of our strengths.”
The contrast with Zandvoort could hardly be more significant. Where the Dutch circuit rewards downforce, cornering confidence and performance through long sequences of bends, Monza places far greater emphasis on straight-line efficiency, low drag and stability under heavy braking.
The Italian Grand Prix is also becoming an important development target elsewhere on the grid, with Ferrari preparing its own Monza-specific performance push.
Andrea Stella’s conclusion therefore sums up McLaren’s current position well.
“So far we can say that when we race on high-downforce circuits with this type of layout, we can fight for victory.”
If the MCL40 can reproduce that level at Monza, on a circuit almost opposite in character to Zandvoort, McLaren will have much stronger evidence that its return to the front is complete rather than circuit-dependent.
Lando Norris is becoming a more complete Formula 1 driver
McLaren’s resurgence has coincided with what is probably the most complete phase of Lando Norris’s Formula 1 career. Andrea Stella did not hesitate when assessing the level the reigning world champion has reached.
“He’s driving like a world champion.”
What impresses Andrea Stella is not simply Lando Norris’s speed, a quality that has never really been in question, but the development he has made since the beginning of last season.
“What I appreciate most about his journey in Formula 1 is the fact that he keeps improving,” Andrea Stella explained. “Especially after the start of the 2025 season, something changed. It wasn’t simply one single ‘click’, but a way of working with Lando and for Lando.”
That process has allowed Lando Norris to progressively eliminate weaknesses from his game. At the beginning of 2025, one question concerned his ability to maximise the full potential of the car over a single qualifying lap. Andrea Stella now considers that issue to have been overcome.
At Zandvoort, however, another quality stood out even more clearly: Lando Norris’s ability to find grip when the car begins to slide.
“When you find yourself in race conditions where the car is sliding and there is little grip, Lando is a master.”
Norris finds performance when grip disappears
That ability proved particularly important on the Hard tyre, a compound that caused significant problems for several other drivers at Zandvoort.
According to Andrea Stella, Lando Norris understood the requirements of the Hard better than anyone else, finding performance that had not been as evident on the softer compounds.
However, the development Andrea Stella sees in his driver extends beyond technical skill. Lando Norris now appears far more secure in his own abilities and better able to interpret the different phases of a race without feeling compelled to turn every situation into an immediate confrontation.
“Self-confidence doesn’t necessarily show itself by always being the most aggressive,” Andrea Stella said. “Sometimes you show confidence when you think: ‘I don’t want to get into a battle now, because I could come off worse. The race is very long, I’ll see you at the end’.”
Andrea Stella defines that maturity through two qualities: determination and confidence.
Even when Lando Norris has lost the lead at the start during his recent victories, there has been no visible negative reaction. Knowing that he possesses the pace to recover has allowed him to wait for the right moment rather than force the situation immediately.
For Andrea Stella, that race management is one of the clearest indications of Lando Norris’s transformation.
Oscar Piastri still struggles when grip levels fall
The situation on the other side of the McLaren garage is more complicated. It has now been a year since Oscar Piastri’s last victory, and his comparison with Lando Norris continues to highlight a difficulty Andrea Stella had already identified last season.
When grip levels fall substantially, Oscar Piastri has to alter his natural driving style. The same issue appeared in Mexico and Austin during 2025 and returned at Zandvoort.
“He has to adapt the way he drives, the way he thinks about driving and also his expectations,” Andrea Stella explained. “That requires a certain amount of mental effort that costs him a couple of tenths, because he has to process what is happening instead of driving purely on instinct.”
Andrea Stella categorically rejected the idea that Oscar Piastri’s difficulties are psychological.
“It’s purely a technical aspect.”
The McLaren team principal also believes the Dutch Grand Prix weekend contained encouraging signs despite the Australian’s difficulties.
Slow McLaren pit stop and Hard tyres hurt Piastri at Zandvoort
Oscar Piastri’s race was also compromised by two specific circumstances.
The first was McLaren’s responsibility. The team stopped Oscar Piastri in response to George Russell, but the pit stop was too slow and cost the Australian the position to the Mercedes driver.
The second problem emerged on the Hard tyres.
“We couldn’t make the tyres work,” Andrea Stella admitted. “They constantly remained in a window characterised by a very, very low level of grip.”
The problem was magnified by how close the leading teams have become. Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren are now separated by extremely small margins, meaning even a minor imperfection can cost several positions.
“If you don’t optimise everything, today you end up sixth. It’s a very brutal situation.”
The compressed competitive order is one reason every development decision carries so much weight, with the Formula 1 championship standings leaving little room for teams or drivers to waste opportunities.
Andrea Stella does not believe Mercedes has stopped developing the W17
McLaren’s return has changed the competitive balance of a season that began with Mercedes appearing almost untouchable. Just as the Woking team completed its technical recovery, however, indications emerged from Brackley that no further W17 upgrades were planned during the season.
Andrea Stella does not believe that.
“I would like to believe it, but actually I don’t,” the McLaren team principal said with a smile.
His scepticism is particularly significant given the ongoing debate surrounding Mercedes’ 2026 W17 development programme.
Andrea Stella also explained why he doubts development at Brackley has genuinely stopped, pointing to concessions in cost-cap reporting linked to the 2027 power unit regulations.
“I’m sure that Mercedes, having seen their rivals raise the level, will now capitalise on the development work they are certainly carrying out behind the scenes.”
Andrea Stella is convinced the work at Mercedes never truly stopped and that the W17 currently racing does not represent the final evolution of the car.
Stella expects Mercedes to introduce more W17 upgrades
“I’m certain that the car they have in the wind tunnel is significantly faster than the one they’re putting on track, and they will want to convert some of that potential into upgrades to introduce on the real car,” Andrea Stella said. “I’m pretty sure they will bring upgrades.”
That assessment means McLaren considers the development race far from over. Mercedes remains a direct threat, and the competitive picture could change again if Brackley converts its wind-tunnel gains into an effective trackside package.
McLaren itself has benefited from improvements across several areas of its 2026 project, with the team previously highlighting the contribution made by Mercedes HPP to its major performance step. That relationship adds another intriguing layer to a championship in which McLaren is simultaneously fighting the works Mercedes team on track.
Monza will determine how complete McLaren’s comeback really is
Zandvoort confirmed that McLaren is once again in a position to fight for Formula 1 victories. Lando Norris is extracting more from the MCL40 as his confidence grows, while the team continues working to help Oscar Piastri overcome the specific low-grip weakness that has followed him from last season.
But Andrea Stella knows the situation can change quickly. Mercedes remains a development threat, the margins between the leading teams are extremely small and the circuits that have recently suited the MCL40 do not represent every challenge McLaren will face during the second half of the season.
That is why Monza matters so much.
If McLaren can remain competitive on the long straights, manage the MCL40’s drag level and perform strongly through the Italian circuit’s heavy braking zones, Andrea Stella will have the evidence he wants that the progress made in Hungary and confirmed at Zandvoort is genuinely transferable.
Only then will McLaren be ready to look at the remainder of the 2026 season with significantly greater optimism. For now, the team is back in the fight for victories. Monza will reveal whether it is truly back everywhere.
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