McLaren delayed by MCL40 design compromises and learning Mercedes new Formula 1 power

The opening three rounds exposed a gap to rivals such as Mercedes and Ferrari, despite McLaren starting the campaign as Formula 1 reigning champions and the potent driving duo of reigning World Champion Lando Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri. Obviously expectations were high, and remain so.

During an interview for the official McLaren website, reflecting on the first three races of the season, Stella explained: “The first part of the season presented some challenges, essentially for two reasons. The first is that it took longer than expected to learn how to harness the full potential offered by the power unit.

"Furthermore, we suffered from various reliability issues in this area, which not only had a significant impact on results but also on the pace of our learning process.

“The second is that the design phase of the MCL40 was affected both by the fact that we continued to fight for the Championship right up to the final race in 2025 and by a different approach to design. Specifically, we wanted to make sure that the launch spec of the car was a healthy platform for development.”

Despite the early deficit, McLaren showed its first signs of recovery in Japan, where Oscar Piastri delivered the team’s first podium of the season: “We have faced the difficulties in a united and cohesive manner, both internally and with our partners at Mercedes HPP.

"In addition, we have seen in Suzuka the first signs of progress, where we secured our first podium of the season thanks to Oscar’s second place. The development rate of the car looks very promising. There is still work to be done on reliability and on optimising performance, but I believe we have taken a step in the right direction," declared Stella.

The enforced April break allowed McLaren to deepen its understanding of the MCL40 and refine its development trajectory ahead of the next phase of the season.

McLaren will introduce its first major upgrade package across the upcoming North American rounds, starting in Miami and continuing in Montreal.

Stella explained: “The May races in North America will see the introduction of the first upgrades of the car from its original version, which has essentially been on track since the Bahrain tests. We plan to introduce a comprehensive package of aerodynamic solutions, which will be phased in between the two Grand Prix events.

“It will certainly not be straightforward to introduce them over two Sprint weekends, given the limited time available for any comparative testing with just one hour of Free Practice each weekend, but we are confident that what we bring to the track should deliver the performance we expect.”

Stella made the target clear: “I don’t expect there to be any revolutionary shifts in the pecking order, but we aim to reduce the performance gap to the frontrunners in the coming races.”

With upgrades imminent and early lessons absorbed, McLaren now heads to Miami focused on turning progress into consistent competitiveness and try to real in the dominant Mercedes team who have won every race this season.