Andrea Stella says McLaren & Red Bull close, Ferrari & Mercedes ahead

McLaren won both F1 Titles in 2025 with Lando Norris, but their 2026 car, the MCL40, is not the cream of the crop yet at the end of the second preseason test that was concluded in Bahrain last week.

While Ferrari topped the timing screens in Bahrain, Mercedes are still the team tipped to dominate, while Red Bull looked solid, which also applied to McLaren.

But it seems every team in the top four F1 club is keen to say they are not favorites, and Stella is no different.

Speaking to the media on the final day of testing in Bahrain, the Italian was asked about his prediction in terms of pecking order.

"Very difficult to say," Stella said with the test still running. "There is a race simulation that I was, I think, was on Thursday [between] Oscar [Piastri] and [Max] Verstappen. It happened at a similar time of the day, and it was a similar pace.

"Often, the race simulation is actually where you can more accurately see what the genuine performance of cars is," he pointed out. "The reason why I think we have to be careful is that depending on the time of the day, then the race simulation may be quite a lot faster.

"Like now [on the last day] Lando, he was performing pretty strongly in a race simulation, but at the same time, probably the end of day three was the fastest time the track has been across the six days. So, difficult [to say].

"I think McLaren and Red Bull are probably very similar. Ferrari and Mercedes are a step ahead," Stella concluded.

The truth on F1's 2026 pecking order will be revealed in Melbourne for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 6-8.