(Motorsport-Total.com) – Mercedes customer team McLaren experienced a mixed phase in Formula 1 in recent weeks: The double podium in Miami was followed by two difficult race weekends in Canada and Monaco. In both Montreal and Monte Carlo, world champion Lando Norris had to retire his car early.
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The gearbox problems in Canada were followed by a power unit failure on Sunday. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella now openly admits that his team is feeling the structural disadvantages of being a customer team for the first time this season, but at the same time emphasizes that Mercedes High Performance Powertrains (HPP) bears no responsibility for it.
“Never before have we felt that being a customer team puts us at such a disadvantage. And when I say that, I want to be very clear here to avoid any misunderstanding: It’s not because you have a lower priority at [Mercedes],” says Stella when asked by Motorsport.com.
“It’s because as a works team, you have more opportunities for integration, for example, to stay on the same schedule when solving reliability problems or optimizing power unit performance, to pool resources when using facilities, or to conduct experiments on the chassis that can be combined with long-term power unit tests.”
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“There are many reasons why power unit reliability plays a role, or the advantages that a works team enjoys in terms of the power unit. I think these reliability issues have come into focus particularly with a view to 2026, because such a comprehensive change to the technical regulations awaits us.”
McLaren CEO Zak Brown has already indicated that the Woking-based team would theoretically be open to developing its own power unit in the long term, similar to what Red Bull has done, provided this can be implemented cost-effectively.
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The question, however, is what can be done in the short term to address the current reliability issues. This is currently being investigated in detail, explains Stella: “This great relationship [with Mercedes HPP] allows us to review every single point, learn from it, and solve it technically.”
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“But if you don’t know what’s coming next, it’s not enough to just work through point by point,” adds the engineer. “Ultimately, you have to review the depth, intensity, and effectiveness of the various meetings, engagement, information exchange, and processes – from factory to factory, from track to track, from track to factory, and so on.”
“The review is ongoing and is in some ways specific when it comes to looking at each individual aspect in isolation. But it is also a more comprehensive review of what we need to improve. Because in 2026 there are so many innovations that we need to operate at a new level of collaboration compared to what we have done before.”
“These discussions have been ongoing for several months, but like everything in Formula 1, there’s always a lead time. It’s not like you see results the next day. So this is already happening and is relatively broad as a discussion.”
Stella also explicitly emphasizes that he by no means wants to point fingers at anyone and that the relationship with Mercedes HPP continues to be extremely successful. The Italian also adds that McLaren has also experienced reliability problems that are completely independent of the power unit supplier.
“There are also things like Lando’s gearbox problem in Canada, which are purely on McLaren’s side. So I really want to be completely fair to our engine supplier, with whom we have a fantastic, very successful relationship. And this relationship continues to be very good.”
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