McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has confirmed that the Woking-based team will not ease up on developing its dominant MCL39, despite its commanding lead in the 2025 Formula 1 season.
With five wins out of six races, including the team’s recent 1-2 finish at the Miami Grand Prix, McLaren’s superiority is undeniable.
In Florida, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris crossed the finish line a massive 37 seconds ahead of the nearest non-McLaren car, Mercedes' George Russell.
While the scale of the performance raised eyebrows across the paddock, Stella remains cautious about overstating McLaren’s dominance, emphasizing that the Miami circuit played to the strengths of the MCL39 and warned that the advantage may not hold across the entire calendar.
Exploiting Strengths, Addressing Weaknesses
“Talking about Miami, we are understanding the strengths of the MCL39, which overall is a competitive car, but in some conditions it seems to have a certain advantage over the rest of the field,” Stella explained.
“These conditions materialised very well in Miami with the track layout, the speed range, the ambient temperatures. But we know very well that in some other kinds of circuits like Saudi or Japan, it's a different story. Everything gets quite a lot tighter.”
McLaren’s loss to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in Japan underscored the need for a more adaptable car. To address this, the team is planning upgrades to make the MCL39 competitive across a wider range of circuits.
“Hopefully we will be able to retain this characteristic and this advantage over the course of the season. But this will require the car to be developed, to be upgraded, because we see that no one is waiting, no one is standing still,” added the McLaren chief.
“We see upgrades being brought trackside by our competitors. We do plan to upgrade the MCL39 and try and, if anything, possibly make the car even more suitable for a wider range of conditions and cornering speed.”
Drawing Inspiration from Ferrari’s Golden Era
Stella, who joined McLaren in 2015 after a successful tenure at Ferrari, draws on his experience from the 2004 season, when Michael Schumacher dominated with 12 wins in the first 13 races.
“We need to go back to 2004,” he said. “That car won 12 of the first 13 races with Michael, and the only one we lost was because Michael crashed with [Juan Pablo] Montoya under the tunnel in Monaco, while Montoya was actually one lap down during a safety car.
“Otherwise, likely we would have won 13 out of 13.”
While Stella uses this era as motivation, he believes replicating such dominance in 2025 is unlikely.
“That’s a reference that I actually often use even to motivate myself – like, that’s where we want to be. But I don’t think this will happen this year,” he admitted.
“So, there is hard work ahead of us to make sure this happens in the years to come. We are a few steps behind compared to those kinds of references.”
Read also: Norris downplays McLaren dominance after Friday Imola sweepDespite the MCL39’s current advantage, McLaren’s rivals are not standing still, and the 2026 regulation changes add complexity to development priorities.
However, Stella’s commitment to continuous improvement signals McLaren’s intent to stay ahead of the pack, aiming to build a car capable of challenging for titles in the years ahead.
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