Andrea Stella has shared his thoughts on the lessons McLaren have learned in the first half of the season, whether there has been a real turning point until now, what contributed to their Hungarian GP success, the responsibility of carrying the team’s legacy forward, whether transitioning from the MCL40 to next year’s project is difficult, and what their objectives are for the latter half of the 2026 F1 campaign.
Heading into the summer break, the Woking-based squad found themselves third in the Constructors’ standings—more than 150 points adrift of the championship leaders. Despite battling with multiple reliability issues and registering three DNFs so far, they managed to secure a victory at the Hungarian GP and four more podiums in the first eleven rounds of the season.
Stella reviews the first half of McLaren’s 2026 F1 campaign
During a Summer Break Q+A session at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking last week, Andrea Stella reflected on 2026 being a learning season and the important lessons that the first half of the campaign has taught the reigning F1 world champions.
Underlining how solidarity plays a key role in pushing a team forward in challenging times, the Italian acknowledged the setbacks they have experienced and how much their clean sweep last year has compromised their momentum in 2026.
Nonetheless, Stella commended the team for not making excuses for their shortcomings in the first half of the season. He maintained that they concentrated their efforts on getting to grips with the new regulations and refining their strategy directions.
“I believe the most important lesson we’ve taken away from these seven months of hard work is that, in times of great difficulty, unity is strength. We’ve demonstrated, first and foremost to ourselves, just how crucial team cohesion is to bouncing back and getting back on track towards the top.
“After three years of steady progress that saw us win three out of four world titles between 2024 and 2025, the start of this season has been a real reset: not only because the rule changes were probably the most significant ever in the history of this sport, but above all because we realised just how heavy a price we’d paid for the effort we put in during 2025 to secure the world double.
“We could’ve fallen apart; we could’ve found excuses for not being able to start the championship as we’d finished the previous one, but that wasn’t the case. We tried to understand the technical and strategic reasons, and we focused our efforts. And that makes me truly proud of this team.”
Stella reveals whether McLaren have had a real turning point so far in the 2026 F1 season
Asked if there was a specific weekend, an upgrade, or perhaps a technical meeting that he would consider the real turning point of McLaren’s F1 campaign in 2026, Andrea Stella couldn’t single out a particular moment that steered them in the right direction. Instead, he revealed how the month-long break in April allowed them to gain an in-depth understanding of the MCL40 and reinforce its development trajectory.
The McLaren Team Principal also noted how their knowledge of the new Mercedes power unit and its usage has improved since the first round and that their hard work—in tandem with the technical partners—is starting to pay off now.
However, Stella was quick to admit that they expect to encounter further challenges in the remaining race weekends so far as the optimisation of the power unit is concerned.
“There wasn’t a single event that changed course; rather, it was a growing awareness of the scale of the challenge we’re facing and the adjustments we needed to make. Paradoxically, the enforced break in April probably allowed us to focus entirely on analysing the MCL40’s performance and to fully understand that we needed to redirect or strengthen its development in certain areas of the car.
“Furthermore, over the past few months we’ve had the opportunity to deepen our understanding of the new power unit supplied by Mercedes HPP and to work with our technical partners to work out how best to utilise it. It’s been a long process, with its ups and downs, but one that’s starting to bear fruit. That said, I expect that optimising the power unit will remain a complex issue throughout the 2026 season.”
High point thus far
Hailing the Hungarian GP weekend as the biggest highlight so far, Andrea Stella explained why McLaren were able to unlock the MCL40’s potential in Budapest and secure their first victory of the 2026 F1 campaign.
The 55-year-old stated that a shift in the development path was key to the aerodynamic upgrade package McLaren had introduced at the Hungaroring and their sudden competitiveness.
“Returning to the car’s performance, it is clear that the Budapest weekend, which brought the first half of the season to a close, was the highlight: not only because of the result, but above all because the aerodynamic package we introduced at the Hungaroring is the result of this change of direction in development and has enabled us to make significant progress in terms of competitiveness.”
Stella on the responsibility of carrying McLaren’s legacy forward
With regard to McLaren celebrating two historic milestones in 2026 and how much responsibility he feels to safeguard the F1 team’s legacy while writing its next chapter, Andrea Stella acknowledged that it’s a momentous task.
At the same time, the Italian maintained that it’s a privilege to lead such a storied team and that he is proud of how the Woking-based squad continue to carry themselves with conviction and chase success every day. Highlighting their vigour and talent, he reiterated how they seek to preserve their legacy while compiling a list of new achievements.
Expressing caution against resting on their laurels, Stella also touched on how McLaren continue to reset ahead of every F1 season and that they hit the track with the objective of setting new records.
“It is certainly a significant responsibility, coupled with a sense of pride, which I’m sure is shared by all my colleagues in the team. It is a privilege to lead this team because of what it represents in the history and present of Formula 1, but above all because of the way the team continues to look ahead and tackle challenges: striving every day to be better than yesterday.
“There’s a hunger for victory, there’s energy, there’s talent. There’s a desire to write new chapters that live up to the tradition we carry on our shoulders, and to do so in true McLaren style.
“In Formula 1, history guarantees nothing. We have to earn it all over again every season. And that is precisely what makes McLaren’s journey today so special—and what we discuss internally within the team: the realisation that, despite everything we have achieved, the most important part of our history is still the one we have yet to write.”
Transitioning from one project to the next
In terms of how difficult it is to strike the right balance between continuing to develop the MCL40 and starting to invest resources in the next F1 season’s car, Andrea Stella responded that the decision is pretty straightforward in 2026. He reckoned that the lack of title fights this season and the technical regulations not undergoing a major overhaul in 2027 have made it easier for McLaren to transition from this year’s project to the next.
Emphasising how the current ruleset is still in its nascent stage, Stella added that the knowledge they are gathering this season will also prove quite beneficial in 2027. Although he referred to the guidelines they have to adhere to with respect to the cost cap, wind tunnel and simulation hours, and further allocation of resources, he appeared confident that McLaren have their ducks in a row.
“In a sense, this year it is easier to find a middle ground between the two requirements. Whilst in 2025 we were faced with the need to strike a balance between two extremes—pushing right to the limit to win the world championship and having to design a new car practically from scratch—this year the transition between the two projects is much smoother, given that the regulatory changes are relatively minor.
“We must bear in mind that this generation of cars is still very much in its infancy, both in terms of the chassis and the power unit; therefore, practically everything we continue to learn in 2026 will be useful to us next year. Of course, we’ll then need to find the right balance in terms of the budget cap, wind tunnel testing hours and computer simulations, and the allocation of resources across design and production, but I believe we’re in a good position on all fronts.”
Stella comments on what McLaren F1’s goals are for the remaining rounds of 2026
Asked what McLaren’s objectives are for the second half of the 2026 F1 season, Andrea Stella surmised that they can still go a long way as long as they manage to sustain the momentum they had shown during the Hungarian GP weekend. He proclaimed that they would have to outperform their rivals in the in-season development race in order to do so.
While admitting that their early struggles proved more critical than they had anticipated, McLaren’s Team Principal took solace in the fact that their development trajectories in the past couple of seasons were pretty solid once they managed to hit the sweet spot.
“That’s a difficult question, but there’s a very clear answer. If we can continue the season as we did in Budapest, I think we can still achieve a great deal. To do so, we must keep pushing with the development of the MCL40 and ensure we outpace our rivals—who certainly aren’t standing still—in this race within the race, which is the competition over updates.
“The result will depend on how effective the solutions we bring to the track prove to be. In the first part of the season, we struggled more than we expected in this regard too, but I believe that in recent years, once we’ve gained some momentum, we’ve been able to maintain it.”
Championship hopes in 2026
As far as McLaren’s chances in the F1 Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championships in 2026 are concerned, Andrea Stella appeared cautiously optimistic.
Noting how there are plenty of race weekends to go and points to grab, the 55-year-old also drew attention to the massive 159-point gap that currently separates Mercedes and McLaren in the standings. Nevertheless, he referred to how Max Verstappen had nearly managed to clinch the Drivers’ title last year and suggested that they should try and capitalise on every opportunity to reproduce a similar feat this season.
“There are still 12 races left on the calendar, so there are plenty of opportunities given that 546 points are up for grabs. Of course, the gap in both championships is significant, but we remember last year’s lesson well: after all, I always tell the team that if we’ve set up a new display cabinet to house the new, recent trophies at the McLaren Technology Centre, then we have a duty to do our utmost to keep filling it…”
