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Andrea Stella believes McLaren extracted almost everything available from its MCL40 at Monza after a costly qualifying session left Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris starting sixth and eighth.
The McLaren team principal had described Saturday’s Q3 result as a failure of execution. By Sunday evening, however, Norris had finished fourth and Piastri fifth, with the Italian satisfied that the team had operated to a higher standard in the race — even if the grid positions limited its ultimate result.
“I think this is a race in which we executed racing better than what we did yesterday,” Stella said. “Yesterday in Qualifying we should have qualified certainly better than a P6/P8 on the grid.”
The recovery was made more difficult by the MCL40’s weakness on the straights. Stella pointed to the time required for Norris to pass Pierre Gasly before closing on the cars ahead, while both McLarens also had to manage the power unit and battery around Monza’s demanding layout. That energy-management challenge was a central feature of the weekend, as outlined in our analysis of Monza’s 2026 energy-management demands.
McLaren’s decision to let its drivers fight in the closing stages added a second competitive thread to a race already featuring a battle between the Mercedes drivers for the lead. Stella said Norris first had to demonstrate that he could pass Piastri before earning the opportunity to chase Max Verstappen.
“The two cars were on the same tyres, same tyre age, same car. So we thought there was no need to interfere with the normal development of the race. We let them race,” he explained.
Norris briefly complained after running with his wheels on the grass, but both he and Stella later agreed that Piastri had not done anything wrong. McLaren will review whether a different approach could have improved its chance of challenging Verstappen, while maintaining its philosophy of allowing the drivers to compete.
Stella also viewed the weekend as evidence of progress for Piastri. After difficult races, the Australian returned to the fight and had been third in qualifying before his impeding penalty was applied. McLaren had worked on adapting his approach to the car’s race requirements, following a process previously used with Norris, and Stella said the benefit was visible at Monza.
Looking ahead, Stella identified Malaysia, Austin and Brazil as circuits more likely to suit McLaren, particularly where long corners allow the car to express its potential. Baku and Madrid may be less favourable, although new upgrades are planned for Baku.
His championship message was deliberately measured: “Just focus on one race at a time.”
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.