McLaren left Baku without a single point after an Azerbaijan Grand Prix in which Oscar Piastri compromised his race with a major mistake at Turn 1 and Lando Norris retired after becoming involved in the accident triggered by Franco Colapinto at the second Safety Car restart. It was a costly result, particularly after the upgrades introduced for the weekend, but Andrea Stella believes McLaren’s problems cannot be explained solely by the incidents that shaped Sunday’s race.
The McLaren team principal chose to look beyond the bad luck and acknowledged that the MCL40 had displayed significant weaknesses throughout the weekend, particularly in terms of maximum speed. Lando Norris reached a similar conclusion after struggling badly even before the contact that ended his race.
Lando Norris calls for tougher FIA penalties after Baku crash
Lando Norris did not hide his frustration after the race. The McLaren driver had not yet watched footage of the incident when he spoke to the media, but strongly criticised the way the FIA handles penalties and called for much tougher consequences in cases of this kind.
“I think the FIA needs to be much stricter and start handing out race bans for incidents like this. It’s reckless driving that costs teams an enormous amount.”
Lando Norris also highlighted the financial consequences of such an accident, given the number of expensive components that can be destroyed in a major collision.
“All my components go straight in the bin. For this kind of manoeuvre, you should have to miss at least one race.”
The McLaren driver also defended George Russell, who was leading the race and had controlled a particularly slow restart that helped compress the field behind him.
“George at the front can do whatever he wants. In Formula 1, I think drivers are expected to anticipate situations, knowing that the grip will be low and that the tyre temperatures will be low.”
The reference was clearly to Franco Colapinto’s mistake. The Alpine driver lost control under braking for Turn 1, hit team-mate Pierre Gasly and also caught Lando Norris in the resulting incident.
Franco Colapinto immediately accepted responsibility for what happened.
“I was completely out of control. There isn’t much more to say other than apologising to the team, to Pierre and to everyone at the factory. I’m sorry to Lando as well. It was a big mistake.”
Lando Norris was already struggling before his retirement
Even without the accident, however, Lando Norris’s race had been difficult from the opening laps. After making a good start, the British driver was unable to defend the positions he had gained and struggled noticeably to match the pace of the cars around him.
“On track I had no chance with the pace we had. I know I didn’t put in a great performance and that I need to drive better, and I’ll analyse where I can improve for next time. At the same time, though, the speed at which the others passed me made everything impossible.”
Lando Norris also pointed towards a possible technical cause connected to the battery and the way the car was delivering its power.
“I’m afraid it simply comes down to how the battery works. With the way the battery delivers the power, it was impossible to even try to overtake. We’re trying to fix the wrong problems: the engine needs to be fixed and maybe then we’ll see some overtaking.”
Those comments reflect one of the principal difficulties faced by McLaren on Baku’s long straights. The MCL40 lacked the efficiency required either to attack effectively or defend against faster cars.
Oscar Piastri’s Turn 1 mistake transforms his race
Oscar Piastri’s Sunday followed a very different pattern. The Australian began the race with enough pace to challenge for a podium finish, but a lock-up at Turn 1 sent him tumbling down the order and turned what had looked like a promising afternoon into a long recovery drive.
“Today we had the pace to be on the podium and we were in a position to do it. The first stint went really well for us.”
The mistake had major consequences. Oscar Piastri fell from third to 14th and was forced into a recovery that prevented him from seriously returning to the fight for the leading positions.
The result was particularly costly in the wider championship picture, with every lost point becoming increasingly important as the positions in the Formula 1 driver standings continue to develop.
Andrea Stella admits McLaren made life too difficult for its drivers
Andrea Stella refused to attribute McLaren’s zero entirely to the accidents. Instead, the team principal accepted direct responsibility for the technical circumstances in which Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had been forced to race.
“Leaving Baku with zero points is a difficult result to accept, but it is a responsibility we have to take as a team. Today we made life too difficult for our drivers.”
It was perhaps the most significant admission of McLaren’s Sunday. According to Andrea Stella, both drivers were repeatedly placed under pressure by the configuration and characteristics of the MCL40, forcing them to defend much more often than should be necessary for a car intended to fight at the front.
“We were exposed by the fundamental limitations of our package: too much aerodynamic drag, insufficient maximum speed on the straights and insufficient pace in the corners.”
That combination was particularly costly at a circuit such as Baku, where aerodynamic efficiency and speed along the extended full-throttle sections are fundamental to both lap time and raceability.
Andrea Stella therefore connected the MCL40’s underlying limitations directly with the increased exposure of his drivers to race incidents.
“For this reason, Lando and Oscar were under constant pressure and eventually became involved in unfortunate events.”
Bad luck therefore played a part in McLaren’s result. Andrea Stella’s assessment, however, makes clear that it was not the only explanation.
McLaren upgrades worked but top speed remains a major problem
One encouraging aspect for McLaren was that the upgrade package introduced in Baku appears to have delivered the improvements expected by the team.
“The upgrades worked as expected and improved the lap time.”
The problem was that the single-lap gain was not enough to compensate for the particularly demanding characteristics of the Baku circuit. The MCL40 remained especially vulnerable in maximum speed, severely limiting the opportunities available to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri when attacking or defending.
The issue is consistent with the performance trends seen across the competitive order in 2026, where straight-line efficiency has become an increasingly important differentiator between the leading cars. Mercedes, for example, has combined strong overall performance with the qualities that have made the Mercedes W17 one of the reference cars of the season.
McLaren turns attention to fixing top speed before Malaysia
Maximum speed is now the area on which McLaren intends to concentrate its efforts before Formula 1 moves on to Malaysia.
“Now we are focusing on solving our maximum-speed problems to make sure we are able to fight for victory in Malaysia.”
Baku therefore leaves McLaren with a damaging zero in the championship but also with a relatively clear indication of what needs to improve. Lando Norris’s accident and Oscar Piastri’s mistake unquestionably made the result worse, but Andrea Stella’s comments show that the underlying problem extends beyond those individual incidents.
McLaren brought upgrades that, at least in terms of pure performance, produced the expected improvements. The next task is to convert that progress into a car that is less vulnerable on the straights. In Baku, the MCL40’s limitations left both drivers spending too much of the race defending rather than exploiting the pace required to fight at the front.
The next test will come at Sepang, where a very different circuit configuration awaits. The full 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang schedule and circuit guide provides the session times and key details for Formula 1’s return to Malaysia.
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