“We are a midfield car” - McLaren boss delivers honest assessment of MCL60 for Bahrain GP

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes that the MCL60 is a midfield car and they have been struggling with their performance. The Woking-based team's chief believes that their prime focus will be improving their aerodynamics throughout the season.

Commenting on their current car in a press conference ahead of the Bahrain GP, Stella said:

“I think testing confirmed that, at the moment, we are a midfield car. The midfield is proving to be quite compact, a couple of tenths can move you to the top; a couple of tenths and you can be at the bottom of the midfield. I think, for us, the focus is to maximise the package in the short term, but at the same time, focus on delivering our upgrade programme.

"It is ambitious, it should unleash quite a lot of lap time over the course of the season. So, focus on short term, but also focus on development over the season.”

The new McLaren team principal suggests that they have faced the impact of the midfield bunching up significantly.

Stella believes that they have produced a midfield car and added that upgrades and development within the season could produce better results. Highlighting aerodynamic development as the prime focus of the team, Stella stated that they will be able to maximise the potential of their car, eventually.

Asked about the key areas of focus in terms of developing their car, Stella replied:

“Certainly, aerodynamic performance, like I keep saying, is the name of the game in this business. So that's our main focus in terms of development.”

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Andrea Stella compares his previous team Ferrari to McLaren

Having worked as an engineer previously in Ferrari, Stella moved to McLaren when Fernando Alonso made the switch from Ferrari to the Woking camp in 2015.

The Italian admitted that his previous employers had a larger infrastructure than his current employers. But he hopes for the infrastructure in his current team to expand with more investments expected in the future.

Assessing the difference between his previous team and the current one, Stella said:

“Well, actually, I think that though the two places operate in a more similar way, then one can think. We are within the same regulations, same objective, so that's not a surprise. The main difference I found is – it actually still persists – I think it's in the size of the infrastructure, the size of the workforce, which is obviously quite a lot larger at my previous team. But we are working on it. There's a lot of investment going on at McLaren, right, to fill this gap in terms of infrastructure and workforce.”

Previously a director of performance at McLaren, Stella was promoted to the role of the team principal after the departure of Andreas Seidl. Over the years, the former engineer has risen through the ranks within the Woking-based team and is considered one of the best engineering talents in the sport.

The 2023 season will be the first under his leadership and will determine the course of the team and its future.