Stella warns F1 rivals of MAJOR early season McLaren upgrade

It is only two races into the new F1 season, and already teams are discussing upgrades.

Red Bull looms imperiously over the rest of the field, with a double one-two result in the inaugural rounds.

READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: F1 champion insists Red Bull NOT responsible for 2023 success

Max Verstappen finished 18.639 seconds above the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, continuing his dominant display we saw at the Bahrain GP the previous weekend.

McLaren was the next best team after Ferrari, but felt the limitations of their car in some areas during the race weekend.

Andrea Stella discusses limitations of McLaren car

“The points of strength, you will have seen, that anybody behind a McLaren in Sector 1 would lose ground,” he said according to MotorsportWeek. “So, when you have these fast-flowing corners, in which it’s enough to do the first steer input, the car responds very well.

“When instead the corners are long, like in the last corner, and you need to really hold the steer for a long time, the car gives up a little bit and we lose a lot of time, which is where, like Ferrari, they are very strong, and that’s why Leclerc was so competitive in the last sector, just that corner.”

“And the other limitation was, somehow still we would like to have more top speed."

READ MORE: Jos Verstappen gives STUNNING verdict on Horner future at Red Bull

“So, I think these two features are very well exposed, at this track, where you have the long straights, and a couple of very long corners, where the limitation gets visible.

“Otherwise, it’s a battle of development. And the development may be the very visible developments where you come with an aerodynamic upgrade.

“Or there’s some other things that you can deliver from a mechanical or even aerodynamic point of view. And at the moment in the pipeline, we have both.

“We have some minor things that will come for Australia and hopefully for Japan, but they will be a few milliseconds.

“And then hopefully within the first third of the season, we will have a major upgrade.”

READ MORE: Wolff admits SHOCK Verstappen Mercedes swoop rests on crucial move

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

McLaren have no choice but to sign Max Verstappen, claims F1 champion

• Yesterday 21:57

Christian Horner to release tell-all book after shock F1 exit

• 22 minutes ago

Lando Norris tears into McLaren team at British Grand Prix - 'Just get it right for once'

• 1 hour ago

Jos Verstappen issues brutal Martin Brundle statement: 'Another one of those idiots'

• Today 12:00

Max Verstappen to McLaren and why it makes sense as F1 insider admits 'now is the time'

• Yesterday 08:45

F1 insider says Mercedes 'get Verstappen for free' in pivotal driver trade

• July 2, 2026 08:15