Currently holding the Constructors' and Drivers' titles, McLaren are already 154 points down on leaders Mercedes, with the British team struggling for consistency after nine rounds of F1 2026. McLaren, a customer team to power unit suppliers Mercedes, have found difficulty in getting to grips with the 2026 regulations in comparison with the Silver Arrows - suffering four failures to either start of finish a Grand Prix with power unit-related woes.

Speaking in the aftermath of the British GP - where Lando Norris finished P3 in the Sprint and P4 in the main race, while teammate Oscar Piastri ended up P11 after early damage caused by a collision with Liam Lawson - Stella was quizzed on whether McLaren can make a similar recovery to that of their 2023 and 2024 seasons - the latter being when they won the Constructors' for the first time since 1998.

Pinpointing upgrades on either side of F1's summer shutdown following the Hungary GP, Stella told media, including GPblog: "My ideal trajectory at the moment is that we would like to close the gap with the next round of upgrades that will happen across the shutdown with something happening before and something happening after the shutdown.

Stella also made sure to highlight aerodynamics as a pivotal area for development in comparison with other areas of the car in 2026. He said: "The development itself, especially from an aerodynamic point of view, is at the moment the central, the pivotal element of performance development, and this is no secret.

Meanwhile, Stella was asked what he would do if he were in Laurent Mekies' position at Red Bull, facing the prospect of losing his lead driver after a disappointing first half of the season. Red Bull's Max Verstappen's future continues to come under increasing speculation - with rumours swirling he could join world champions McLaren.

The Italian added: "As Andrea Stella, there's enough to do at McLaren, not to think about what Laurent should do. Laurent is very capable, he's very intelligent, very competent. So I'm sure he will do everything that is necessary and McLaren and Red Bull hopefully will be able to join Mercedes and Ferrari and we can have an even more exciting Formula 1 in the second part of the season.”