McLaren team principal Andrea Stella admits Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are going through a difficult patch after a frustrating start to the 2026 season, but he says both drivers have the mentality to recover.
The two-time reigning constructors’ champions have recorded just one finished race from four attempts so far — Norris’s fifth place in Australia — while Piastri crashed out before his home race and neither car started the Chinese Grand Prix because of separate electrical faults with their power units.
Those issues have left McLaren third in the constructors’ standings, well adrift of early leaders Mercedes and Ferrari. In the drivers’ standings Norris sits sixth on 15 points and Piastri is 12th with three points scored in the Shanghai Sprint.
Stella acknowledged the strain the run has placed on the team but stressed conversations after Shanghai showed the drivers remained positive. He credited the culture McLaren built since 2023 — a focus on a winner’s mindset and resilience — for helping the team process setbacks and stay focused on what they can control. Where faults were outside their control, Stella said they take every learning opportunity and move on.
He pointed to difficult episodes from last season, such as the strategy error in Qatar and the Vegas disqualification, as experiences that tested the team and ultimately made them stronger. Stella framed the current problems as part of the same journey: endure the difficulty, process it, and use it to become a better champion.
The immediate consequence of the double DNS in Shanghai was lost points; McLaren sit roughly 80 points behind leaders Mercedes after the Silver Arrows posted another one-two finish. McLaren and Red Bull have lagged Mercedes and Ferrari on raw pace across the opening rounds, and the team say there is scope to extract more from their Mercedes power unit as well as to refine the MCL40 aerodynamically.
On Sky Sports’ The F1 Show, commentator David Croft said Miami (May 1–3) could be pivotal if McLaren’s planned upgrade arrives. He warned that two separate issues preventing cars from starting in Shanghai is worrying and highlighted the fragility shown by several teams that weekend — four cars failed to get off the line. Croft suggested McLaren’s update may address both power and aerodynamic gaps and urged watchers to pay close attention in Miami.
Constructors’ Championship — Top 5:
1) Mercedes — 98 points
2) Ferrari — 67 points
3) McLaren — 18 points
4) Haas — 17 points
5) Red Bull — 12 points
Formula 1 next heads to the Suzuka Circuit for the Japanese Grand Prix on March 27–29, with live coverage on Sky Sports F1.