Andrea Stella discussed a 2026 F1 Belgian GP weekend that had promise for McLaren but failed to translate into a big result; Oscar Piastri was P5, with Lando Norris down in 7th.
In qualifying on Saturday, the World Champion was very strong and finished up in P3. A lack of power for the Australian in the final sector meant he ended up behind the Ferraris at the end of Q3. Thanks to the grid penalty for Norris, cars #81 and #1 started in P6 and P13 respectively.
In the race itself, contact with Charles Leclerc on lap 8 led to Oscar Piastri picking up damage, taking him out of the fight for P2. He had to settle for 5th in the end. As for Lando Norris, he was hampered by a 7.8s stop. What should have been at least P6 meant he finished just behind Isack Hadjar.
McLaren boss Stella believes podium was possible with Lando Norris at 2026 F1 Belgian GP
Heading into the weekend, Lando Norris knew he would drop 10 spots as the team fitted a new power electronics unit that went beyond his allocation for the season.
In qualifying, he minimised the damage very well, finishing up in P3. After run one, he was fastest by four hundredths from Kimi Antonelli thanks to a mega lap. However, a small error out of turn 14 on the second attempt meant any chance of improving was gone.
During the race itself, the defending World Champion was extremely fast on both sets of tyres on the alternate strategy. At the end of the race on mediums, he was flying along, consistenly setting fastest laps. Ultimately, however, he fell half a second short against the Red Bull for 6th.
Speaking in a print media session post-race, Andrea Stella believes Lando Norris had a great shot at a podium in the 2026 F1 Belgian GP had he started from P3.
Nonetheless, the Italian engineer is aware that is not the start of a consistent trend as McLaren try to improve the MCL40 to be competitive on every type of track and whatever the conditions are.
“We are very encouraged by the pace that Lando was able to deliver today.
“I think with him starting in the natural position, P3, and probably out of outright pace that was a P2. Of course, Verstappen gained almost three tenths with the towing in the last sector through the help of Hadjar.”
Pace for the podium
“So I think the car had the pace in qualifying, and based on what we saw today, it had the pace in the race to contend for a podium.
“At the same time, I think the car adapted well to Belgium. And it’s not like now we go back to Silverstone and we are in condition to compete for podiums in Silverstone.
“We are, at the moment, susceptible to the track condition, the level of grip. And our work and our objective is to make sure that we are independent of this variability and we can compete for podiums because the car is strong enough to do it in every condition.”
Stella admits they should have probably pitted both cars under the VSC at 2026 F1 Belgian GP
On lap 20, a VSC was thrown. This gave the Ferraris, Oscar Piastri and Isack Hadjar a cheaper stop. Although Norris was right behind as his teammate and the medium tyre was holding up well considering all the top 5 had run them to that point, McLaren did not box the Brit.
Having briefly led, Norris dropped to P4 and had his Australian teammate right behind him as he finally boxed at the end of lap 30. He had lost over 10s of race time on track. It was compounded by an issue with the left rear wheel, with his stop taking 7.8s. He then got stuck behind Gabriel Bortoleto for half a lap because of it too.
Nonetheless, Lando Norris did not give up. Despite only passing the Brazilian easily, his pace in the final stint was blistering. A gap of 33s to Charles Leclerc after his stop was cut to 22s by the end. With Max Verstappen, who finished 3rd, a near 26s gap was slashed to 12.5s at the flag.
Asked about whether they should have pitted Lando Norris under the VSC following the 2026 F1 Belgian GP, Andrea Stella conceded they should have probably done it.
Based on Lando Norris’ pace, a P3 would have been possible if they had made it then, even if his tyres might not have been as good after 24 laps versus the 14 he did.
“I think, replying with perfect hindsight and having seen the pace of Lando on the medium, and the fact that the tyres actually, unlike the first stint, the medium tires, they seemed to be holding on relatively well.”
Worth a try
“I think we should have given it a go. Because Lando ultimately lost some time being overtaken, while staying out, and there was no further Safety Car. In case of a Safety Car, the strategy would have worked well, because now Lando saves the time at the stop. He finds himself on new tyres with other people on a used heart that would have worked very well.
“But this didn’t happen. At the time, we were a little concerned of such a long stint on the medium tyres, and we thought that the pace would be good enough that in case of another Safety Car, or Virtual, then Lando would have been in a strong position.
“I think these were the considerations of the time. It was very much a 50-50. We wanted to avoid Lando to lose the time of the double stack at the pit stop, because he was the second car. So we opted for staying out.
“But like I said, it was a 50-50, and ultimately, in hindsight, it was probably better to pit.”
The Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri contact
On lap 8, the Ferrari and McLaren F1 drivers were battling down the Kemmel straight for P3. Piastri was looking at potentially going down the outside into Les Combes, until the Monegasque moved across. The left rear of car #16 and the right front of car #81 made significant contact. Both could continue, however.
Andrea Stella said he would need to review what happened and read the reasoning for no penalty for Leclerc before giving a definitive answer on the situation.
“I will have to review what elements have been taken into account by the stewards, whether the determinant here is the relative position between Oscar’s front axle and Leclerc’s car.
“I think in any case, when the cars are staying alongside for such a long time, I think we should make sure that the car that is not on the racing line because it’s defending the inside does leave enough space because if there’s a contact that is not controlled then the crash is going to be very big.
“So I think there’s possibly some learning to be taken out of this case.
“But to comment further, I would need to read the decision and see the case myself.”
McLaren boss Andrea Stella on the damage sustained by Oscar Piastri following that touch at 2026 F1 Belgian GP
As soon as car the 25-year-old picked up the damage, Lewis Hamilton quickly made light work of him. Piastri dropped away to such an extent that his teammate Norris caught him and briefly passed him before the VSC. Critically for the Aussie, he got back through on the Kemmel straight to have pit priority.
Following the VSC, he was very close to Max Verstappen in the fight for P3 as he had got back ahead of the seven-time World Champion who had served a penalty.
Unfortunately for the 2025 Belgian GP race winner, tyre degradation was higher than those around him because of the damage sustained and he had to lean on them at the start of stint more, as Andrea Stella revealed post-race. Lewis Hamilton caught and passed him once more for 4th as the second stint progressed.
Nonetheless, the Italian took positives from the speed Oscar Piastri showed as the weekend progressed.
“Oscar’s race was affected by this damage.
“It was, from a lap time point of view, between 2 and 3 tenths of a second based on the downforce that was lost.”
High tyre wear
“I think the main way in which this manifested itself, this damage, was actually the fact that he needed to use the tyres more than the competitors to stay with them in the first part of the stint. And then he had very high degradation in the second part of the stint.
“If you see in both segments of the race, I have to say that it was quite encouraging, Oscar being there, but then at some stage he loses quite a lot of pace. For me, this is because the underlying car pace was not enough and actually he was staying there by using a little bit more out of the tyres.
“There was some degradation today, especially in the first stint with the medium. And this meant that at some stage Oscar started to lose a lot of time, which is also why Lando was catching Oscar so rapdily.
“But apart from that, I think Oscar has actually learned quite a bit through the weekend. Like in qualifying, like I said yesterday, in Q3 he was on the same pace as Lando if it wasn’t for the time lost for the power unit.
“And I think today, without the damage, he would have been there.”
