McLaren MCL60 shines only under certain 'pockets of conditions', says Andrea Stella

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella recently addressed how small the performance window is of their 2023 F1 car, the MCL60.

The orange British team has been struggling to keep up in midfield this year. However, in certain weather and track conditions, the MCL60 comes alive and instantly becomes the best midfield car.

Speaking to RacingNews365, Stella explained how McLaren had a positive result during Spanish GP qualifying because certain conditions during that session were perfect for their car. He highlighted how the car mainly excels on a cold track with lots of high-speed corners and in cold weather and said:

"In reality, the fact that we had a positive result [with Norris in Spanish GP qualifying], kind of confirmed what we already knew. There's a pocket of conditions in which the car operates very well, which include a cold track, cold ambient [temperatures], high-speed corners and a lot of grip from the tyres."

Andrea Stella justified McLaren's findings by pointing towards the Miami GP and how much they suffered in a hot climate with less grippy tires and tracks. He elucidated how having more grip on tires overshadows the balance issues the MCL60 has and concluded:

"When you have a grip on the tyres, you mask balance problems, and this meant Lando and Oscar [Piastri] could be competitive. This is almost the counter to what we had in Miami, where it was hot, the tyres and tarmac weren't very grippy, balance issues and not many high-speed corners at all. So we've got more confirmation of what we already knew, rather than new insights [into problems with the car]."

McLaren is currently sixth in the constructors' championship with only 17 points. Alpine is miles ahead of them, with 40 points in their pocket.

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McLaren-Red Bull power unit deal off the table

Mclaren team principal Andrea Stella poured cold water about their talks with Red Bull over supplying them with engines from 2026.

Speaking to the media, the Italian stated his team have progressed forward in their negotiations with HPP (Mercedes High-Performance Powertrains) and said:

“We had conversations with Red Bull a few months ago as part of the due diligence in exploring what’s available in the market in terms of power units for 2026."

"But at the moment, we are quite advanced in our negotiations with HPP [Mercedes High-Performance Powertrains], so there’s no conversation ongoing with Red Bull.”

At the start of the 2023 F1 season, Red Bull announced that they have partnered with Ford to create their very own power units which they will use from 2026. There is a high chance that other customer teams could look to the reigning world champions for a reliable and strong engine.