McLaren issue battle pledge to F1 rival team which has 'raised the bar'

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has stated Mercedes has “raised the bar” following its performance at the Barcelona shakedown event last week.

The Brackley-based squad clocked the most mileage of any team throughout the event, tallying 500 laps across three days.

The cars will take to the circuit once again next week in Bahrain, where teams are more likely to experiment with extracting pace from the cars.

At this stage, Stella has conceded that establishing a pecking order from the Barcelona shakedown is not possible.

“In terms of performance, it is obviously very difficult to give an objective assessment, as we do not know the other teams' work programmes, fuel levels or work schedules. 

“In addition, the environmental conditions were quite different from what we normally experience on race weekends.”

However, he noted that Mercedes, as well as Ferrari and Red Bull, enjoyed a strong opening period to the year.

But it was the Silver Arrows who caught Stella's eye after showcasing impressive reliability during the test.

“That said, it is clear that there are at least three competitors – Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull – who have all got off to a good start,” he said.

“In particular, the Brackley team has definitely raised the bar, and we will have to work hard to do the same. 

“The fact that the three teams I mentioned are equipped with three different power units is a first indication that there may not be extremely marked differences in terms of absolute performance, at least as far as some of the PU suppliers are concerned.”