Andrea Stella has made McLaren’s Austrian Grand Prix build-up about more than lap time after admitting the team still has work to do on reliability.
The reigning constructors’ champion has not looked as settled in Formula 1’s new 2026 rules cycle, and Stella’s comments come as McLaren heads to Spielberg trying to prove its cleaner Spanish Grand Prix weekend was a reset rather than a pause in a wider problem.
According to Motorsport Week, Stella said McLaren had “quite a lot to improve” after earlier race weekends were affected by issues beyond Sunday race execution, including problems in practice. That is the line that matters before Austria, where short lap times and repeated traction demands tend to punish any team still chasing confidence in its package.
McLaren cannot treat Spain as proof yet
Barcelona offered McLaren some relief, with both cars reaching the points and Stella acknowledging a calmer weekend from a reliability point of view. But the wider competitive picture is still awkward. Sky Sports’ Austrian GP preview notes McLaren showed signs of improvement in Spain, yet also frames Mercedes and Ferrari as likely early favourites for the Red Bull Ring weekend.
That leaves McLaren fighting on two fronts. It needs the MCL40 to take a step on performance, but it also needs Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to get through sessions without the kind of reliability interruptions that have already slowed the team’s season. The contrast with Mercedes’ own reliability stress before Austria only sharpens the theme: the 2026 title race is already being shaped as much by robustness as raw pace.
There is also pressure from Ferrari. Readmotorsport has already covered how Ferrari’s Austria engine update can turn Hamilton’s title push into a sharper test, and Norris has previously warned that Ferrari could embarrass the field if it fixes its main weakness.
Austria will not decide McLaren’s season, but it can reveal whether Spain was the start of a genuine rebuild. For Stella, that may be the more important answer than a single qualifying position.
