After a below-par result in Monza, McLaren is already aiming for a comeback in the next stages of the 2026 Formula 1 season. Andrea Stella, the team principal, revealed that the MCL40 will receive updates at the Azerbaijan GP, although he acknowledges that Baku and Madrid may not be the circuits most favorable to the car’s characteristics.
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Stella’s expectation, however, is that the scenario will change as the calendar progresses. After two consecutive wins by Lando Norris, in Hungary and Zandvoort, McLaren narrowly missed the chance to return to the podium at the Italian GP. For the Italian executive, the last races of the year should offer clearer opportunities for victory.
“I think a good, sensible, and realistic end of the year is one where, in the last nine or 10 races, we can consistently fight for wins and secure some of them. I believe our car will adapt better to tracks like Malaysia, Austin, and Brazil. When we have longer corners, the car seems to extract its potential better.”
The team is already preparing updates for Baku, even with the assessment that the Azerbaijan layout and the new Madrid circuit may make life difficult for McLaren. Stella explained that tracks with short corners and that require greater precision in the racing line do not exploit the strengths of the MCL40 as much.
“We have some updates that we will bring to Baku, but we still think that tracks like Baku and Madrid — where you need to be extremely precise on the racing line and there are short corners — may not favor the strengths of our car.”
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Stella recalled that recent results show that McLaren has the capability to fight for victory under different conditions. In Hungary and Zandvoort, the team was in a position to win, while Monza presented a different scenario, especially due to the importance of drag for performance on the Italian circuit.
“Still, it is worth remembering that in Zandvoort and Hungary we were in a position to win. Here [in Monza], although we were not, we know it is an outlier race and you yourself mentioned the importance of drag.”
For Madrid, the expectation is that this factor will have less weight, since the layout will have a greater number of corners. Therefore, even with the expected limitations, McLaren intends to make the most of the opportunity. “This drag will be less decisive in Madrid, where there is a much higher density of corners, so we will certainly give our best.”
In the 2026 championship, Stella also avoided projecting beyond what is necessary. Even with the recent sequence of good results, the McLaren chief called for caution and argued that the team should not be overly influenced by the position in the standings: “But, from the championship perspective, I think we need to keep our feet on the ground: we cannot get carried away by the table and must focus on one race at a time.”
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