Andrea Stella, the team principal of McLaren, has sent a clear warning to the squad’s competitors as the 2026 Formula 1 season heads into its second half. Stella expressed confidence that once the Woking outfit finds its rhythm, it can sustain that pace for the remaining races. The British team, fresh from securing the long‑awaited first win of the year at the Hungarian Grand Prix, demonstrated the strength of their recent development package. Lando Norris, the reigning drivers’ champion, dominated the Hungaroring, taking pole and then converting it into a commanding victory.
That performance narrowed the gap to championship leader Kimi Antonelli to just 91 points and reduced McLaren’s deficit to the Mercedes‑powered Italian to 159 points in the constructors’ tally. To keep his title hopes alive, Norris will still need to overtake Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Charles Leclerc, while Ferrari remain within 72 points of Mercedes in the team standings. Although both margins are sizable, the quality of Norris’s drive after the Budapest upgrade has given Stella optimism that McLaren can remain a serious threat over the final twelve rounds, beginning with the Dutch Grand Prix sprint weekend on August 21‑23. When asked if the team could re‑enter the fight for the world championships, Stella replied, “It’s a tough question, but the answer is pretty straightforward.” He went on to stress that replicating the Budapest form would allow McLaren to achieve “a great deal,” provided they keep pushing the development of the MCL40 and stay ahead of rivals who are also working hard on their own upgrades.
Stella highlighted that the ultimate outcome will depend on how effective the new solutions prove on track. He admitted that the early part of the season had been tougher than expected, but noted that in recent years, once the team has built momentum, it has been able to preserve it.
Looking back, McLaren entered the same point in the calendar a year earlier with a very different picture. At the previous summer break they led the constructors’ championship by 299 points, and Oscar Piastri was ahead of Norris, suggesting a two‑horse battle for the drivers’ crown. However, Max Verstappen of Red Bull launched a spectacular comeback, cutting the deficit to just 104 points with nine races left and ultimately finishing the season only two points behind Norris and eleven ahead of Piastri. Stella reminded everyone that there are still 12 races – and 546 points – up for grabs.
“The gaps in both championships are large, but we learned a valuable lesson last year,” he said. “If we have installed a new display cabinet at the McLaren Technology Centre to showcase fresh trophies, we have a responsibility to keep filling it.” The Hungarian upgrade package, which the team had downplayed before the event, spoke for itself. Norris not only secured pole but also displayed blistering race‑pace, winning by 15 seconds over Verstappen. The margin could have been even larger if Norris had not been briefly held up by teammate Piastri early in the race.
Reflecting on the development process, Stella explained that there was no single breakthrough moment. Instead, the team gradually recognised the scale of the challenge and the areas that needed improvement.
He pointed out that the mandatory April break actually helped, allowing engineers to focus entirely on analysing the MCL40’s performance and to identify where the car required a redesign or strengthening. The Budapest weekend, which capped the first half of the season, became the turning point not only because of the victory but also because the aerodynamic package introduced at the Hungaroring represented a decisive shift in the car’s development direction, delivering a noticeable jump in competitiveness.
Stella also praised the collaboration with Mercedes on the power unit. Over the past months, McLaren has deepened its understanding of the new Mercedes‑supplied hybrid engine and worked closely with technical partners to extract maximum performance. He described the process as long and filled with ups and downs, but now beginning to bear fruit. Nevertheless, he cautioned that fine‑tuning the power unit will remain a complex task throughout the remainder of the 2026 campaign.
As the season resumes after the summer hiatus, the spotlight turns to the Dutch Grand Prix sprint weekend. All sessions will be broadcast live on Sky Sports, and fans can stream the coverage via NOW with no contract and the ability to cancel at any time. McLaren’s message to its rivals is clear: once momentum is seized, the team intends to hold onto it and keep pressing forward, hoping that the next twelve races will see the MCL40 continue to evolve, the power unit become ever more refined, and the trophy cabinet at Woking grow ever larger.