Andrea Stella confirmed that McLaren will introduce upgrades in phases over the next few races to counter Red Bull’s surge and challenge Ferrari for second place in the constructors’ championship. Speaking to media, including Vision F1, the Italian team principal revealed that McLaren would continue developing its current car while also testing concepts for its 2027 challenger.
The battle for second place in the constructors’ championship remains close between Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren. However, McLaren struggled to outperform its rivals during the Asian triple-header. Both cars received an upgraded package in Baku, but the changes did not translate into the desired results. In Malaysia, the team managed a double points finish but neither driver finished in the top five. They achieved a better result in Singapore, with both drivers finishing in the top five. However, their rivals outscored them across all three weekends, including the sprint races.
Stella confirmed that McLaren planned to respond to the performances of Red Bull and Ferrari with upgrades over the next few races. He revealed that the developments would arrive in three phases, with the aim of putting McLaren in a stronger position to challenge for podiums.
The team principal also emphasised the importance of developing the 2027 car, confirming that McLaren would test some of its concepts on the current car during the remaining races of the season. Stella noted that Red Bull were close to McLaren in the standings but considerably more competitive in terms of pace. He also stressed the need to close the gap to Ferrari, with the upgrades expected to help McLaren remain competitive against both rivals.
Asked by Vision F1 if the planned to respond to the performance deficit to their rivals with upgrades in the next few races, Stella said:
“So we do plan to deliver some upgrades. We hope that they will be able to fill this gap, that we have to the best cars and put McLaren in condition to fight for podiums on merit, and then whether we can fight for the victory, this, I think we will have to see probably in the last three races. because these three upgrades will be delivered in phases. It’s important for us that we deliver upgrades, because we are in a close fight for a championship position.”
“We also want to improve some of the fundamental concepts that we’ll carry into next year’s car. Because at this level of maturity of the cars, you are starting to push the aerodynamic development, and you may start to see that things work, but some things may not work because aerodynamics is starting to get complicated enough after what it’s basically two years of development. If we consider that the development started, the 2nd January, 2025, and now we are well into 2026. So after 2 years now, it’s complex, it may go right, it may go wrong. So we wanted to track test some of the fundamentals we carry into next year, and I think this is quite convenient. Because Red Bull, pretty much, they are on par with us in terms of points, and they are ahead in terms of competitiveness. And we wanted to set a quest to Ferrari in the championship.”
Andrea Stella explains McLaren’s performance deficit to rivals
Andrea Stella attributed McLaren’s low points tally during the Asian triple-header to upgrades introduced by their rivals and issues with their own car. He confirmed that the team had questioned the upgrades introduced on both cars in Baku. Oscar Piastri finished 13th, while Lando Norris retired from the Azerbaijan GP, leaving McLaren without any points that weekend.
In Malaysia, Stella believed the car was sensitive to the rough track surface, making it difficult for the team to analyse the data and optimise its performance. Piastri finished sixth, while Norris crossed the line in ninth place at Sepang. In Singapore, Stella pointed to significant power unit optimisation issues and a performance deficit to Red Bull. However, he felt McLaren’s performance around the Marina Bay circuit had helped dispel doubts about the upgrades introduced in Baku.
Red Bull introduced upgrades to their car in Azerbaijan and have since enjoyed a surge in performance. The team secured a double podium in Baku, while Max Verstappen went on to win the races in Malaysia and Singapore.
Stella believes McLaren have a deficit of around three-tenths of a second to Red Bull, which could be addressed through further upgrades. He noted that upgrades had played a decisive role in determining the performance pecking order on the grid throughout the season. He also felt Verstappen had benefited from being able to manage his tyres more effectively in clean air during the races in Malaysia and Singapore. Stella further highlighted limitations in McLaren’s chassis and aerodynamic performance, particularly on longer straights.
Explaining their performance issues with
“I think if we take Baku and Malaysia in isolation, we were not very competitive. We had the doubt about the package we introduced in Baku. We never expected it to be a big step from a lap time point of view. But because we upgraded two cars at a single time, we have no comparison. We thought, have we made a car slower? At least we were in condition to clarify that that’s not the case, which is an important question that we were able to answer here in Singapore, Baku to a track that is just a little bit more normal. Then Malaysia, where the track roughness just made the data look very weird. But we understand that it had to do with the track roughness, and Baku, in which we think that the power unit optimisation played a significant role in terms of lap time. And we know that this is not only power unit optimisation, there’s a few more things on the chassis side, the long straits penalise McLaren in the current configuration, like the ratios. So we had doubts for a couple of races, but we welcome the fact that we were able here [Singapore] the there is nothing wrong going on.”
Explaining the performance deficit to Red Bull, Stella said:
“Overall, I think there’s no big surprises. It was good to see that here in Singapore, we are where we expect it to be. I think, Verstappen and Red Bull, they are just taking advantage of the upgrades that they have delivered. And it’s what we call this season, the ping pong. Basically, people come with upgrades, even if, like, in the case of Mercedes, I understand that they have some issues themselves. But people come with upgrades, they can take a little step forward. And even if here, Red Bull, where they were kind of dominant, compared to us, they had three tenths of a second, and three tenths of a second is a range that you can add with an upgrade.”
McLaren recorded the lowest points tally among the leading teams during the Asian triple-header, underperforming compared to their results at other race weekends. Their rivals, meanwhile, managed to collect significantly more points across all three races. McLaren currently sit third in the constructors’ championship with 339 points, 105 behind second-placed Ferrari. Red Bull are close behind the Papaya squad, trailing them by just seven points. With six rounds left on the calendar, McLaren’s upcoming upgrades aim to help them mount a challenge to Ferrari for second place in the constructors’ championship while keeping Red Bull at bay.
