(Motorsport-Total.com) – McLaren team principal Andrea Stella sees his team lagging behind in the further development of the current Formula 1 car and therefore demands a higher pace. In his assessment, the racing team from Woking is currently about two to three months behind Mercedes in aerodynamic development and must make up this deficit as quickly as possible.
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At the Austrian Grand Prix, McLaren did not bring any major innovations to the MCL40. While Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull had introduced extensive aerodynamic packages in recent races, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had to settle for sixth and seventh places in qualifying. They were about four tenths of a second behind polesitter George Russell, a considerable gap given the short lap length at the Red Bull Ring.
“We are talking about about three months of development delay that we need to catch up on. There is only one way to achieve this, namely to outperform our competitors in development,” explains Stella. “We need to rev the engine higher. We need more intensity in the company. We need to develop good solutions and implement them effectively.”
Stella demands faster development pace
The Italian is satisfied with the planned further developments but demands a faster implementation pace: “What I see in our pipeline is very promising, especially with the aerodynamic upgrades. At the same time, we need to bring these updates to the track as quickly as possible.”
According to the team principal, the pace of updates and further development in Formula 1 has now reached an unprecedented, high level: “Formula 1 in 2026 is operating at a level that has never been seen before. If we look at Red Bull’s upgrades, they are very extensive. Both the development of performance and the speed at which new parts are brought to the track reach a level that I have never experienced in Formula 1.”
“This is exactly what we are discussing internally. We have to ensure that McLaren outperforms its competitors in development and implementation as much as possible. Only then can we close the gap,” Stella continues.
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Downforce and top speed as biggest issues
Stella also sees the causes of the MCL40’s weaknesses clearly identified. The Austrian Grand Prix did not bring any new insights. Above all, the car lacks downforce and aerodynamic efficiency. In addition, McLaren is investigating why the team apparently cannot use the Mercedes power unit as efficiently as the factory team.
“Our deficit to Mercedes has always been between three and four tenths of a second. About 70 percent of that is lost in the corners and about 30 percent on the straights. The reason in the corners is clear. Their car generates more downforce than ours and that is exactly what we are working on.”
“The deficit on the straights could be related to additional air resistance. At the same time, we are also investigating how we use the power unit because our speed deficit is considerable,” explains the Italian.
According to the team principal, at least one tenth of a second, possibly even one and a half tenths of a second, is lost on the straights alone. Besides air resistance, the use of the power unit plays a major role.
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