Andrea Stella is satisfied with the McLaren shakedown in Barcelona, but emphasizes that he is currently focusing primarily on the Mercedes works team.
It is “very difficult” to assess the balance of power for the 2026 season after the Formula 1 shakedown in Barcelona, explains Andrea Stella.
Nevertheless, the McLaren team boss was particularly impressed by one team in Spain. “It’s clear that there are at least three competitors—Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull—who have all made a good start,” Stella emphasizes. And the Mercedes works team in particular has “definitely raised the bar,” explains the team boss.
“We have to work hard to achieve the same,” says Stella, who also emphasizes that he is satisfied with his own shakedown. “What we saw on the track was in line with expectations and, above all, with the simulations,” he says of the MCL40. The new car is therefore “a good starting point” for the new season, even if there is still a lot of room for improvement, for example in the use of the completely new engine. At least the reliability of the Mercedes power unit already seems to be up to scratch.
“Rather, the reliability issues that slowed down the work on the track [in Barcelona], at least as far as we were concerned, were mainly related to the enormous complexity of the 2026 vehicle system,” explains Stella.
However, he believes that almost all engines made a solid impression in Spain, which suggests that the differences between the individual powertrains are significantly smaller than some observers had feared.
According to its own figures, the Mercedes works team completed 502 laps during the test week in Barcelona, the most of any team. McLaren managed “only” 291 laps. This is probably one of the reasons why Stella is impressed by the performance of the Silver Arrows.
Ferrari, meanwhile, completed 440 laps according to its own figures, while Red Bull managed 303 – also a few kilometers more than McLaren. The last two test drives before the season opener in Melbourne are scheduled for February 11-13 and February 18-20 in Bahrain.