McLaren deliver ominous message to F1 rivals

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has detailed the work undertaken by his squad to ensure it continues its strong run of form into the second half of the year.

The Woking-based outfit has enjoyed a dominant period so far in 2025 with 11 victories in the 14 grands prix staged.

It holds a significant lead in the constructors' championship while both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are seen as the primary protagonists in the drivers' title fight.

McLaren has taken a 1-2 finish at the last four grands prix, with Stella pinpointing the squad's development approach as a key reason behind its upward trajectory.

“I think we have seen a very positive trend in terms of our competitiveness,” Stella told media including RacingNews365.

“Especially, I would say, over the last events in which we have finished with a P1 and P2.

“And like I said in some other interviews, this is not only because we started with a competitive car.

“But, actually, we have upgraded the car since Canada with what was in the past a single instalment upgrade.

“It would be very noticeable. McLaren bring a new car, and improves by a few tenths of a second.

“But in the recent races, we have upgraded the car with some parts at pretty much each race.

“So we have become faster. I think every single session [in Hungary] we were P1-P2 by a decent chunk compared to the next team.”

As it closes in on its first double title success since 1998, McLaren suggested it is expecting to even be competitive at tracks that were less favourable to it in the past.

“This makes us very positive about the remainder of the season,” Stella added. “We look forward to starting racing again after the shutdown.

“I think we have some tracks that will be favourable to us again, like Zandvoort.

“We have also done some specific work for some tracks like Monza or Vegas, in which last year, we were not necessarily dominant.

“We knew that we needed to do some work for the performance at those tracks.

“So we definitely look forward to the second part of the season, and we expect to be competitive.”