Stella refuses to panic after Sepang struggles, eyes Singapore for McLaren's true 2026 pace

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has pushed back against suggestions of a performance crisis following a difficult relocated Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang, Malaysia, insisting the circuit’s extreme track surface distorted the data and that the Singapore Grand Prix will provide a far clearer picture of the team’s true 2026 competitiveness.

Reigning world champion Lando Norris struggled to match the pace of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing on the abrasive Sepang asphalt, with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton particularly impressive in recovery, working his way past multiple cars to run alongside Norris during the race. Stella cited Hamilton’s charge as direct evidence of the Scuderia’s significant step forward.

“We don’t see any anomaly in our data, but we have to acknowledge that potentially some competitors have developed their car with bigger steps than we did,” Stella said during a post-race media debrief. “Ferrari, they were very very strong. Hamilton was out there with Lando and from that position he managed to recover several positions overtaking cars through the race, meaning that he was definitely one of the best cars out there.”

Rather than treating the Bahrain result as a reliable benchmark, Stella characterised Sepang as an outlier driven by its uniquely aggressive surface and unpredictable tyre behaviour. “It’s a very special condition here in Bahrain, so I think we’ll have to understand where are the behaviour of the cars,” he cautioned.

The McLaren boss acknowledged, however, that the team’s own upgrades brought to Malaysia also need further evaluation before firm conclusions can be drawn. “Singapore will give us a better answer,” Stella said, adding that he could not yet predict whether the Marina Bay Street Circuit would suit McLaren’s package any better than Sepang did.

With the field heading directly to the Marina Bay Street Circuit for the Singapore Grand Prix, and further upgrades planned for the closing stretch of the season, McLaren will be counting on the street circuit to clarify whether their Sepang difficulties were a genuine setback or simply a circuit-specific anomaly.