McLaren boss Andrea Stella issues warning to rivals over ‘momentum’ in F1 title battle following Lando Norris win | F1 News

McLaren boss Andrea Stella has issued a warning to his team’s rivals for the remainder of the 2026 season as he expressed confidence in the Woking squad’s ability to maintain momentum once it has been gained.

The reigning constructors’ champions claimed a long-awaited first victory of the season in the final race before the summer break as reigning drivers’ champion Lando Norris dominated in Hungary.

The result brought Norris back to within 91 points of championship leader Kimi Antonelli, while McLaren closed the gap on the Italian’s Mercedes team to 159 points. To retain his title, Norris would also need to leapfrog Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Charles Leclerc, while Ferrari are only 72 points back from Mercedes in the team standings.

While both margins are considerable, Norris’ performance following a significant upgrade package in Budapest has provided Stella with belief that McLaren can continue to perform strongly over the remaining 12 rounds of the season, starting with the Dutch Grand Prix from August 21-23.

Asked whether his team can get back into the fight for world titles, Stella said: “That’s a difficult question, but there’s a very clear answer.

“If we can continue the season as we did in Budapest, we can still achieve a great deal. To do so, we must keep pushing with the development of the MCL40 and ensure we outpace our rivals – who certainly aren’t standing still – in this race within the race, which is the competition over updates.

“The result will depend on how effective the solutions we bring to the track prove to be. In the first part of the season, we struggled more than we expected in this regard too, but I believe that in recent years, once we’ve gained some momentum, we’ve been able to maintain it.”

McLaren were in a contrasting position this time last year, having reached the summer break with a 299-point lead in the constructors’ standings, and Oscar Piastri leading team-mate Norris in what appeared to be a two-horse race for the drivers’ title.

However, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who trailed Piastri by 104 points with nine rounds remaining, staged a remarkable fightback to ultimately finish the season just two points behind Norris and 11 ahead of Piastri.

Stella added: “There are still 12 races left on the calendar, so there are plenty of opportunities given that 546 points are up for grabs.

“Of course, the gap in both championships is significant, but we remember last year’s lesson well: after all, I always tell the team that if we’ve set up a new display cabinet to house the new, recent trophies at the McLaren Technology Centre, then we have a duty to do our utmost to keep filling it…”

Hungary upgrade represented ‘change of direction’

McLaren had played down the upgrade package they brought to Hungary ahead of the event, but the results spoke for themselves as Norris took pole before showing searing pace to win the race.

The Brit ultimately beat Verstappen by 15 seconds but had he not been held up by Piastri for the first half of the race having been overtaken by his team-mate on the opening lap, the margin could have been far greater.

Reflecting on the process that led to the latest upgrades, Stella said: “There wasn’t a single event that changed course; rather, it was a growing awareness of the scale of the challenge we’re facing and the adjustments we needed to make.

“Paradoxically, the enforced break in April probably allowed us to focus entirely on analysing the MCL40’s performance and to fully understand that we needed to redirect or strengthen its development in certain areas of the car.

“It is clear that the Budapest weekend, which brought the first half of the season to a close, was the highlight: not only because of the result, but above all because the aerodynamic package we introduced at the Hungaroring is the result of this change of direction in development and has enabled us to make significant progress in terms of competitiveness.”

Stella also praised the work his team have done alongside engine supplier Mercedes to optimise the performance of their power unit.

“Over the past few months we’ve had the opportunity to deepen our understanding of the new power unit supplied by Mercedes HPP and to work with our technical partners to work out how best to utilise it,” he added.

“It’s been a long process, with its ups and downs, but one that’s starting to bear fruit. That said, I expect that optimising the power unit will remain a complex issue throughout the 2026 season.”

The Formula 1 season resumes after the summer break with a Sprint weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix from August 21-23, with every session live on Sky Sports. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime