McLaren pinpoint major Mercedes deficit as fresh instruction issued

McLaren boss Andrea Stella has outlined where the team's deficit to Mercedes currently lies - and issued an instruction over how to close the gap. 

The reigning constructors' champions are yet to win a single grand prix in 2026, with Mercedes - who provide McLaren's power unit - scooping seven of the eight wins thus far.

McLaren initially struggled early in the season with exploiting the Mercedes HPP power unit, but has made steps in recent races. 

However, team principal Stella believes that whilst 30% of the deficit is coming in a straight line, McLaren's MCL40 chassis itself is responsible for the other 70% through the corners.

"When it comes to our gap to Mercedes, it's always been between three and four tenths; it comes in the corners predominantly, probably 70% in the corners and 30% on the straights," Stella explained to media, including RacingNews365. 

"In the corners, it is very clear why that is the case. It is a fact that their car generates more downforce than our car, and this is something that we are working on, and we have good projects [in the works].

"The 30% happening on the straights might have to do with some additional aerodynamic drag that we have on our car, but we are also looking at the way we exploit the power unit, because the speed deficit is quite significant. 

"On the GPS overlays, it is interesting to see the characteristics of the various cars, and you will see there's probably one-and-a-half tenths, a tenth at least, that we lose on the straights.

"It is difficult when you reverse engineer to see the outcome of a few kph in difference, but it could be multiple sources, and it is a typical problem as to how much you can effectively distinguish the drag from the power unit work. 

"Talking about the exploitation, deployment was very sensitive to ride style and how you distribute it over the lap, and from that, it has been good progress and collaboration with HPP. 

"I cannot talk about differences from a power unit point of view, because assuming it is the same, there may be differences from a drag point of view.

"It is fair to concede that Mercedes has less drag than us; we have different gear ratios, which may have an effect; there may be other sources, but the only thing I know is which is under our control is that we need to minimise the drag on the MCL40.

"This is what we are concentrating on, while we keep a very tight collaboration with HPP."