McLaren making regular F1 discoveries after Mercedes teething trouble

McLaren boss Andrea Stella has detailed how the team is continuing to make regular discoveries about how to best exploit its Mercedes power unit in 2026.

Stella has often discussed, through the first half of F1's new power unit rules season, how the defending constructors' champions have not been able to fully exploit the Mercedes HPP unit, and especially not to the same extent as the works Mercedes team. 

McLaren initially suffered from teething troubles, including a double Did Not Start in China, where Lando Norris failed to get out of the garage, and Oscar Piastri was wheeled off the grid. 

For the first time since McLaren reunited with Mercedes in 2021, Stella has explained that he feels the team is on the backfoot as an engine customer, although he has been at pains to point out the strength of the relationship with Mercedes HPP.

Detailing the small, continuous discoveries the team is making, Stella believes it is only now that the team has the "required tools" to be able to fully understand and get on top of problems as they arise.

McLaren making regular F1 discoveries after initial Mercedes teething trouble

"There are still some random factors which I think are only apparently random," Stella told media, including RacingNews365. 

"Like, this is engineering; things happen for a reason rather than out of chance. Sometimes these reasons are so sensitive to little parameters that change that it looks like you can figure out, at least in the short term, the reason. 

"So I think we are still a little away. I would say a few races away from having a full understanding of the power unit behaviour and exploitation. 

"It is only now, we are mid-season, that we are starting to have the required tools in order to be able to anticipate, optimise, and study these sensitivities, so that we know that, like, if this little change happens, then we will have these bigger changes as a consequence, which at the moment, and for some time, we have not been able to to do. 

"But this is something like exploitation of the power unit that will not be possible without a strong collaboration with HPP, which I've always reiterated. Even when I mentioned that we are under-exploiting, I've always reiterated that collaboration is excellent."