McLaren’s zero points from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix is the most obvious consequence of a disastrous Baku weekend, but it is not the issue that concerns Andrea Stella most. Lando Norris’s race was ended by the incident involving Franco Colapinto, while Oscar Piastri threw away a potential podium with a late mistake. Yet the McLaren Team Principal looked beyond those episodes and identified a deeper problem: the MCL40 simply was not as competitive as the team had expected, particularly in terms of straight-line speed.
Baku ended in the worst possible way for McLaren, with both cars effectively removed from points contention. Andrea Stella, however, did not use the incidents involving Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri as an excuse. Instead, he immediately focused on the fundamental limitations exposed by the car on a circuit that places a premium on efficiency and top speed.
McLaren’s Baku zero exposes fundamental MCL40 weaknesses
Lando Norris’s race ended at the restart on lap 36 following a Safety Car period. Franco Colapinto arrived dramatically too late under braking for Turn 1, with the resulting incident ending Lando Norris’s afternoon.
Oscar Piastri’s hopes disappeared later through a mistake of his own. The Australian locked up under braking at the same first corner and went down the escape road, destroying what had looked like a realistic opportunity to fight for the podium.
Two different incidents produced the same outcome in terms of points. But even without those episodes, Baku would not have been a weekend McLaren would remember fondly.
“We had some problems and made a few mistakes,” Andrea Stella admitted. “But at the same time, I think we paid for some fundamental limitations of our package on a circuit like this. We weren’t fast enough in the corners, but above all we weren’t fast enough on the straights.”
Straight-line speed forces Norris and Piastri onto the defensive
That lack of top speed had a major influence on the race. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were repeatedly forced into defensive situations, meaning every rival who moved within attacking range immediately became a significant threat.
“Our drivers spent practically the entire race looking in their mirrors rather than thinking about how they could move forward,” Andrea Stella explained.
Oscar Piastri handled that limitation better. Andrea Stella compared his performance with the Australian’s 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, when Oscar Piastri successfully kept Charles Leclerc behind for a long period to take victory.
This time, a similar defensive performance appeared capable of putting Oscar Piastri in contention for at least a podium. That possibility remained alive until the switch from soft to medium tyres and the subsequent Turn 1 mistake that ended his challenge near the front.
The difficult weekend adds another chapter to a complicated 2026 season for the McLaren MCL40, which has shown significant progress at some circuits but remains sensitive to the specific demands of each layout.
Lando Norris hit by fuel-injection and power-unit problems
Lando Norris faced an even more complicated situation. An intermittent fuel-injection issue that had already appeared during qualifying returned on his MCL40, accompanied by difficulties managing the power unit’s delivery.
Lando Norris also struggled on the medium tyres and made several mistakes, but Andrea Stella was keen to make clear where he believes the greater responsibility lies.
“I would say that for Lando this was one of the most difficult events he has experienced in 2026,” Andrea Stella said. “But most of the areas where we need to improve concern the team and the car. We need to be able to give our drivers a better car and, above all, one that is more consistent in terms of predictability.”
McLaren targets drag, gearing and power-unit optimisation
Andrea Stella’s technical analysis went considerably deeper than simply identifying a lack of straight-line speed. McLaren has known for some time that aerodynamic drag is an area in which the MCL40 must improve, but Baku demonstrated that the deficit cannot be traced to one factor alone.
Andrea Stella also highlighted the gearbox ratios, which McLaren will need to evaluate carefully ahead of other circuits featuring exceptionally high maximum speeds.
The comparison with the works Mercedes team was particularly revealing. McLaren uses Mercedes power units, yet the complete W17 package has repeatedly demonstrated a stronger ability to generate speed on long straights. The strength of that overall combination has been a major theme of the season, with the Mercedes W17 establishing itself as the 2026 benchmark.
“When we analyse the data and compare it with Mercedes, we can see that our power unit wasn’t optimised,” Andrea Stella explained. “In qualifying, we managed to exploit practically everything that was available, whereas in the race there were some areas that we weren’t able to optimise, and we paid the price.”
The distinction is important because the problem is not simply one of engine performance. McLaren must understand how aerodynamic drag, gearing and power-unit deployment interact to produce the straight-line deficit that was so damaging in Baku.
Baku upgrades escape blame despite difficult weekend
The substantial upgrade package introduced in Azerbaijan has not been blamed for McLaren’s problems. The data collected during the weekend confirmed the team’s expectations, although Baku’s particular circuit characteristics did not allow the full benefit of the new components to become apparent.
McLaren will therefore need to wait for more representative circuits before assessing the package’s complete potential.
The MCL40 is also expected to receive a few further developments over the coming races, but McLaren’s 2026 development programme is now approaching its conclusion.
“All the effort is already focused on next year’s car,” Andrea Stella confirmed.
McLaren’s bigger Baku concern goes beyond the zero points
That may be the most significant conclusion to emerge from McLaren’s difficult Baku race. The zero in the championship standings was ultimately produced by two separate incidents, but the team leaves Azerbaijan with a deeper technical problem to analyse.
Even without those incidents, the MCL40 was not performing at the level McLaren had expected. The car lacked sufficient speed through the corners, was particularly vulnerable on the straights and left both drivers spending too much of the race defending rather than attacking.
With development of the 2026 car now almost complete and resources increasingly directed towards next season, McLaren must determine which lessons from Baku can still be applied to the MCL40 – and which must instead shape the design of its next Formula 1 car.
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