McLaren have ‘work ahead of us' as Stella identifies main objective

McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella acknowledged that the team has significant work ahead to close the gap on Mercedes and Ferrari, after finding themselves the third-fastest team at the Australian Grand Prix. Despite Lando Norris fending off Max Verstappen to secure fifth place, McLaren was unable to challenge for victory, with Oscar Piastri's pre-race crash further compounding a challenging start to the 2026 season. Stella highlighted two critical areas for improvement: optimizing power unit exploitation and enhancing cornering grip, admitting the team is puzzled by the performance disparity with other Mercedes-powered cars. He also noted Mercedes' superior speed in corners. McLaren plans major upgrades in the coming races but will focus on maximizing the current car's potential in the interim. Regarding Piastri's incident, Stella attributed it to a combination of cold tyres and kerb interaction, exacerbated by power unit torque delivery issues, expressing confidence that Piastri's mental toughness will see him rebound in China.