New McLaren boss Stella pinpoints important area of improvement

Incoming McLaren boss Andrea Stella believes the team must address its aerodynamic deficiencies to rival Formula 1 teams.

Stella was appointed as Team Principal following the departure of Andreas Seidl to become Sauber CEO in preparation for Audi's arrival in 2026.

Seidl was instrumental in deciding to upgrade McLaren's ageing wind-tunnel at their Woking HQ, which should be available for use in 2023.

And while he was keen to highlight the infrastructure improvements being made at McLaren, former Ferrari man Stella pointed out that the squad needs to improve in the aerodynamic department.

Stella highlights aero improvement

"We want to make some areas of the team stronger," Stella explained to media, including RacingNews365.com.

"We know enough [that in] Formula 1, it is fundamentally an aerodynamic game.

"So it is no surprise that one of the areas we want to get stronger is on the aerodynamic side, I think we have incredible talent.

"[It is possible that] we need to expand our manpower in that area - and it is also one of the projects that are ongoing and with which we'll continue."

Structural reasons for McLaren poor performance

Stella also pointed out that he believed there were structural issues behind McLaren's ability to deliver "a quick car" but was confident they'd be resolved in the coming year.

"We definitely would like to make a step forward in delivering a quick car - and some of the reasons we haven't been able to do that so far are quite structural," he explained.

"There's really good action and investments going on at McLaren so that we can overcome these limitations.

"We have the important infrastructure coming to fruition in 2023 like the wind-tunnel and the new simulator.

"Completing this business is certainly one of my priorities."