Andrea Stella feels McLaren will be pushed hard by Mercedes (Image: Getty)
McLaren chief Andrea Stella has singled out Mercedes as the team that has “definitely raised the bar” in terms of their performance heading into the 2026 season. The Italian’s judgement was based on last week’s shakedown test in Barcelona where Mercedes enjoyed impressive reliability and speed with their 2026 car, the W17, and its new engine.
The strong shakedown showing has helped to cement Mercedes‘ status as the bookies’ pre-season favourites for the title. That is despite McLaren being the defending champions after back-to-back constructors’ title successes, while Lando Norris took the drivers’ crown last year. In contrast, Mercedes’ last title came in 2021 and the Silver Arrows have won just seven Grands Prix across the four seasons since.
McLaren, powered by those new Mercedes engines, also had a largely problem-free shakedown while rival power unit manufacturers Red Bull and Ferrari also put in plenty of mileage in Barcelona. Team principal Stella pointed to the three of them as obvious threats while assessing the top teams’ performance in the test, while singling out Mercedes for his highest praise.
The Italian said: “It is obviously very difficult to give an objective assessment, as we do not know the other teams’ work programmes, fuel levels or work schedules. In addition, the environmental conditions were quite different from what we normally experience on race weekends.
“That said, it is clear that there are at least three competitors – Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull – who have all got off to a good start. In particular, the Brackley team has definitely raised the bar, and we will have to work hard to do the same.”
George Russell and Mercedes at the pre-season title favourites (Image: Getty)
Given the sheer amount of data collected, it has been suggested that works teams might have an advantage over customer outfits this year as they will have more ready access to the performance of all power units they supply. Stella hopes the potential for that outcome will be mitigated by the scale of the regulations changes this year and the opportunities presented for teams and drivers to make the difference.
He added: “Although these are very preliminary indications, I believe that one of the areas where there is great room for improvement is in exploiting the new power unit and all the options available to the driver. There is also a lot of potential to be extracted in terms of managing the variable aerodynamic configuration, referring to the alternation between corner and straight mode.
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“That said, it is obvious that this generation of single-seaters is at a very early stage of development. Four years ago, when ground effect cars made their debut, we were in different circumstances because the power unit and tyres were essentially unchanged from the previous year.
“More than ever before, this year it will be the ability of the teams and drivers to exploit the package at their disposal, as well as the ability to develop the car in the right direction, that will make the difference.
“In any case, what we see in the first part of the season in terms of the balance of power will almost certainly not be the same as what we see in the second part, precisely because the effects of car development in an early phase, such as the one we are experiencing now, can only be very significant.”