🚨| F1 | McLaren, Stella confirms: “A whole new MCL40 will arrive between Miami and Canada.”
— Andrea Stella, McLaren team principal, confirmed that the MCL40 will undergo significant revisions, particularly in aerodynamics, between the Miami and Montreal races. The aim is to close the gap with Mercedes and Ferrari. Stella elaborated:
“In our intent, there has always been the idea of presenting a completely new car at the turn of the two American races, especially from the point of view of aerodynamic updates. We were able to comply with this plan, and the forced stop came to our aid.”
— Stella anticipates that other teams will also introduce updates, but McLaren's changes are particularly awaited. Reflecting on past successes, he noted:
“Between Miami and Canada there will be a completely new MCL40, and that's what I also expect from most of our opponents, so it won't necessarily be a big surprise.”
— Despite the anticipation, Stella advises caution, acknowledging the challenges ahead:
“We will see who has been able to add more performance in the same amount of time, but we must remember that we still have some ground to recover compared to Mercedes and, in part, also to Ferrari.”
— Stella expressed optimism about the power unit improvements, which had previously hindered McLaren's performance:
“Thanks to the simulations, I believe that in Miami we will be able to predict the behavior of the power unit also in relation to regulatory changes.”
“I am confident that we will be able to achieve this goal and I can confirm that, in collaboration with HPP, we have taken a significant step forward compared to what was seen in Australia.”
— Stella acknowledged the complexities of managing the power unit as a client team but remains hopeful:
“I think that, as a team, we are now much better prepared. We paid a deficit, but I think it's a natural consequence of being a client team.”
This may remove the smirk from Toto's face?
