McLaren boss Andrea Stella says Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are in a “tough moment” after the team’s difficult start to the season, but he is confident the drivers have the mindset to rebound from 2026’s early setbacks.
The reigning two-time constructors’ champions’ title defence has started in disappointing fashion, with world champion Norris’ fifth-placed finish at the season-opener in Australia their only race result from a maximum four so far.
Oscar Piastri crashed out before the race at his home Australian Grand Prix while both McLaren drivers failed to take to the start last weekend in China due to separate electrical issues with their cars’ power units.
It leaves McLaren a distant third behind early pacesetters Mercedes and Ferrari in the standings. In the drivers’ standings, Norris is sixth on 15 points and Piastri sits 12th with just the three points he collected from the Shanghai Sprint.
“It is a tough moment, that’s for sure,” said Stella, McLaren’s team principal, when asked how he was finding managing the drivers.
“If we consider that Oscar has not been able to start a race in the start of the 2026 campaign, that’s pretty difficult for Oscar to process.
“But, at the same time, and this was testified and witnessed in the conversation with Lando and Oscar after the race, both remain quite positive.
“I think what we have gone through at McLaren in terms of the journey from 2023 has been such a good journey of developing a culture, a mindset, what we call internally a winner’s mindset. Just a positive attitude, which focuses us on what we can control.
“In this case [in China], there wasn’t much we could have controlled, so we just take any possible learning and we go again.”
Stella said it was the lessons learned from difficulties in previous seasons that would see them through.
“Even looking at last year, when we won the double championship, we said, and I said that publicly, but we definitely said internally, the victory was not in Abu Dhabi,” he added.
“The victory was in Qatar [when a strategy error cost both drivers] and in Vegas [when both cars were disqualified], for the way we withstood the difficulties. That’s where you really become a champion.
“So this is part of the same part of the journey, which is the day in which you have to withstand the difficulty, you have to process it and you have to use it to become even more of a worthwhile champion in the future and gain the qualities to be a champion.
“That’s our mindset and I’ve seen it completely at play with Oscar, with Lando and with the team.”
‘Watch out in Miami’ – how soon will McLaren close gap to Mercedes, Ferrari?
Stella admitted the biggest consequence of their double DNS in Shanghai was the loss of world championship points.
The defending champions are now already 80 points behind leaders Mercedes after the Silver Arrows’ second-successive one-two finish.
McLaren, like Red Bull, have trailed both Mercedes and Ferrari on pace at the season’s opening two rounds. The Woking team have said while there is scope to get more out of their Mercedes engine, they also need to improve their MCL40 car.
Speaking on the latest edition of The F1 Show podcast, Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft said that the Miami Grand Prix on May 1-3 could be an important one for McLaren upgrades.
“To have two separate issues that stops their cars that is a big worry, but it shows how fragile these cars are,” said Croft.
“A lot of people are struggling; four cars didn’t get off the line in Shanghai and that’s not what we want to see. Reliability has been brilliant the last few years, over time that hasn’t always been the case, but we don’t want to see cars not starting.
Piastri and Norris will be hoping to return to the front of the grid soon
“McLaren know there is a big update coming, potentially for Miami, which should solve a lot of the issues where they’re not competitive to Mercedes.
“They know it’s not just power issues; they know they can do better aerodynamically, so watch out in Miami.
“This is why it’s important for Ferrari and Mercedes to make hay while McLaren and Red Bull are struggling a little bit.”
Formula 1 next heads to the iconic Suzuka Circuit for the Japanese Grand Prix on March 27-29 live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
