Ferrari tipped to shine in Austria: 'I would expect they remain the fastest car in the corners'

McLaren heads to Austria off the back of Lando Norris's podium finish in Spain, with the Briton capitalising on Antonelli's retirement to return to the top three after back-to-back DNFs in Montreal and Canada. However, it was also a weekend in which both Mercedes and, above all, Ferrari appeared to have an edge over the MCL60.

Speaking to GPblog among others after the Spanish Grand Prix, Stella highlighted the different demands posed by the Red Bull Ring compared to Barcelona. Despite that, the McLaren team principal expects Ferrari to remain the benchmark through the corners, while Mercedes currently appears to have the strongest overall package over a single lap when both chassis and power unit performance are considered.

Stella stressed that McLaren's priority over the coming races is to continue developing the car through a series of upgrades, while recognising that its rivals will also be introducing improvements. Rather than focusing too heavily on the competition, the team principal said the emphasis remains on ensuring the MCL60 takes a step forward from race to race and allowing the results to follow naturally.

Norris admitted Ferrari's current cornering performance has caught the attention of rival teams, describing the Scuderia as the benchmark in that area following Hamilton's dominant victory in Barcelona. The McLaren driver believes Ferrari's package is already extremely competitive through the corners and suggested the team could become even more difficult to beat if it manages to unlock further performance from its power unit.

Norris stressed that McLaren still has significant ground to make up and warned that Ferrari could establish a sizeable advantage if it continues to improve in the coming races. As a result, the Briton called on his team to keep pushing development, insisting McLaren must find answers quickly if it wants to remain in the fight at the front of the grid.