Stella announces updates: “We will see an entirely new McLaren”

McLaren is preparing to make its move with development, after remaining the only top team not to have introduced updates following the presentations. The world champions are convinced that the starting concept of the MCL40 is the right one, which is why the innovations will not constitute any revolution, but rather a profound evolution. A substantial package of developments will arrive between Miami and Canada, such that we can talk about an entirely new car, also improved with regards to the use of the Mercedes power unit. An entirely new MCL40 Announcing the updates is Andrea Stella himself, who lets some not-so-subtle optimism shine through: “We can’t wait to show on the track what we’ve been able to achieve behind the scenes in the last couple of months. I think they’ve been quite positive in terms of the development of the car. We hope to appreciate it in Miami, in Canada and in the following races.” McLaren had not planned any updates for the April races, having immediately targeted the month of May for the introduction of the new features. The Team Principal continues: “Our plans have always been to create an almost entirely new car, especially from an aerodynamic point of view, for the races in North America and we managed to respect this programme. Obviously, the fact that the calendar changed helped us a little, but I’m sure the same goes for the other teams, who were able to work focusing more on developing the car, rather than being busy with the races. I would say that between Miami and Canada we will see an entirely new MCL40.” Joe Portlock/Getty Images Stella, however, does not want to be under any illusions: “I would like to underline that I expect the same from the majority of our rivals, so there will not necessarily be a change in hierarchy. It will simply be a comparison of who has managed to improve performance the most in the same period of time. We have some gap to make up against Mercedes and, to a lesser extent, also Ferrari. However, we are quite satisfied with the development we have managed behind the scenes. We should see a slightly more competitive MCL40 in Miami and in Canada, considering that in the last race in Japan it was already quite so. We’re looking forward to the next races.” Progress on the engine The weeks of break also provided McLaren with valuable time to strengthen its understanding of the Mercedes power unit and optimize its energy management strategies. Andrea Stella explains: “Regarding the work carried out together with the Mercedes engine engineers and the development of the simulation tools, I can confirm that we have made a significant leap forward compared to where we were in Australia. I think that as a team we are much better prepared now.” Clive Rose – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images “The delay present at the start of the season was a natural consequence of being a customer team in a period in which there was a lot of emphasis on programming, also from the point of view of the power unit. It was all ok though, it was something that we were ready to accept and that we dealt with in a very constructive way with Mercedes. However now, late in the season, I believe that we have made up for that delay and now we should have all the necessary tools to extract the maximum from the power unit.” All this lays the best conditions for seeing a more competitive McLaren in Miami, even if in Woking no one knows how Ferrari and Mercedes worked.