No quick fix: McLaren boss Stella sees solution for MCL40 only in 2027
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are wrestling a difficult car. Andrea Stella expects no improvement from the next upgrades – and talks after the Singapore Sprint collision are not over.
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There is no quick improvement in sight at McLaren. Team principal Andrea Stella does not expect the upcoming upgrades to fix the MCL40's difficult handling characteristics. According to Formel1.de and Motorsport-Total.com, the Italian said the team needs something more fundamental than simply adding downforce, and that the deep changes required will only be possible with its successor, the MCL41, for 2027. He added that the car demands far more intense steering inputs from the drivers than last year's.
World champion Lando Norris described a car that is on a knife-edge in every single corner and said driving it is exhausting and mentally draining. According to Stella, Oscar Piastri is hit harder because he naturally uses smoother steering inputs, which at times cost him ground on Norris – for technical reasons.
The team is also still dealing with the two drivers' collision on the final lap of the Singapore Sprint while fighting for sixth place. Stella had called the incident unacceptable. "The conversations that we are having, they are not finished," he said, according to PlanetF1. Norris apologised to the team after the race. McLaren are third in the constructors' standings on 339 points – 105 behind Ferrari and just seven ahead of Red Bull.