Stella admits McLaren are three months behind Mercedes and must raise development intensity

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has publicly acknowledged that his team is two to three months behind Mercedes in aerodynamic development, calling on the Woking outfit to dramatically raise the intensity of its upgrade programme following a difficult qualifying session at the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri could manage only sixth and seventh on the grid at the Red Bull Ring, leaving them four tenths adrift of polesitter George Russell — a gap Stella described as symptomatic of a broader deficit that has persisted throughout the 2026 season.

“We talk about three months of development that we need to catch up,” Stella said on Saturday night. “There’s only one way of doing so, which is to out-develop competitors. We need to rev our engine higher. We need to have more intensity in the business. We need to be good at delivering effective solutions.”

McLaren arrived in Austria without significant upgrades, in contrast to both Ferrari and Red Bull, who brought substantial aerodynamic packages to recent rounds. Stella was candid about what that comparison reveals, arguing that the overall pace of development across the grid has reached a level he has never previously witnessed in Formula 1.

“What I see in 2026 is Formula 1 operating at a level that has never been the case before,” he said. “If we see the upgrades that Red Bull did, they are quite voluminous. The overall game in terms of pure performance development, but also performance delivery to track, is to a higher level than I’ve ever seen before.”

Breaking down the gap to Mercedes, Stella estimated that roughly 70 per cent of the deficit materialises through the corners — a direct consequence of the Silver Arrows generating more downforce — while the remaining 30 per cent is lost on the straights, which he suggested may be linked to aerodynamic drag or the team’s ability to extract the full potential from its Mercedes power units.

“Our gap to Mercedes has always been between three and four tenths,” Stella explained. “In the corners, it’s very clear why that is the case — their car generates more downforce than our car, and this is something we are working on.”

Despite the sobering assessment, Stella struck a cautiously optimistic note about what is coming through McLaren’s development pipeline, insisting the team has the tools to close the gap if it can accelerate the rate at which upgrades reach the track.

“What I see in the pipeline is very promising, especially in terms of aerodynamic upgrades,” he said. “But at the same time we need to land with these upgrades trackside as soon as possible.”