RACING: McLaren will start new F1 season on the defence, says Stella

LONDON – Formula One champions McLaren will begin the 2026 season “playing a bit defensively,” with Ferrari and Mercedes expected to set the pace, team boss Andrea Stella said Thursday.

McLaren is defending both drivers’ and constructors’ titles this year after Britain’s Lando Norris ended Red Bull’s Max Verstappen’s four-year reign. The Woking-based team is also aiming for a third consecutive constructors’ championship.

Stella expressed satisfaction with testing over nine days in Bahrain and Barcelona. McLaren completed 1,108 laps and addressed all items on their checklist.

“From a reliability point of view, we have made good progress and, above all, we have managed to make the car faster,” Stella said in a Q&A provided by the team ahead of the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. He added that both Norris and Australian teammate Oscar Piastri felt positive about the car’s performance.

“With all the unknowns involved in testing, I can confirm what I said in Bahrain: the ‘usual suspects’—strictly in alphabetical order: Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, and Red Bull—are a step ahead of the competition,” he said.

“Within this leading group, we believe Ferrari and Mercedes are slightly ahead, although it’s difficult to quantify the gap. Once the cards are on the table, development will become the major challenge. To use a football metaphor, the first part of the season will see us playing a bit defensively, trying to exploit the counterattack.”

Stella noted that the MCL40 car will be largely unchanged in Melbourne compared to Bahrain, with only minor aerodynamic updates. The team will also continue efforts to reduce the car’s weight.

Formula One is entering a new era with major changes to engines and chassis, increasing the electrical component to near parity with the combustion engine. Some worry that new energy management rules and functions such as boost and overtake modes could alter the racing experience for fans.

“We have perhaps never had such a significant change all at once, at least not in this century,” Stella said. “There are still details that can be ironed out to ensure the spectacle on track lives up to our sport’s popularity, is easy to understand for all fans, and remains a competition where the fastest cars and drivers win.” -Reporting by Alan Baldwin/Reuters