McLaren make 'significant step forward' on Mercedes-powered engine ahead of Miami GP
Andrea Stella - Photo: RacePictures
08:01, 30 Apr
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Henry Eccles is a freelance Formula 1 journalist for GPblog, covering breaking news, live race blogs, and features across the F1 calendar. Since joining in 2026, he has produced high-volume reporting on the sport’s biggest stories, alongside feature pieces including analysis and historical content.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has reported a "significant step forward" for the team in their understanding of their Mercedes-supplied power unit prior to this weekend's Miami Grand Prix. The Woking team initially struggled in the opening two races, but are hoping to bounce off a promising P2 in Suzuka.
At the beginning of the 2026 season, Stella lamented a gap in knowledge between McLaren and engine supplier Mercedes with regard to the new, complicated power units that have a 50:50 split between electrical power and internal combustion.
Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri suffered a DNS in China after separate issues with their power units, but the latter performed strongly against championship leaders Mercedes at the next round in Suzuka - unlucky not to win the race after a poorly-timed Safety Car.
Off the back of that performance in Suzuka, where Norris also finished P5, McLaren boss Stella has also teased a "completely new" MCL40 in Miami this weekend, with both drivers still yet to give up hope that they can claw back an 89-point deficit to the Silver Arrows.
The first American race of the season will also see much-desired tweaks to the 2026 rules, with reduced recharge in qualifying, increased super-clipping power, a boost cap of +150 kW, as well as aids to slow race starts.
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Speaking to media, including GPblog, at McLaren's MTC headquarters, Stella explained why he is "confident" the team understand how the new rules will affect their 2026 challenger.
“In Miami, like we have seen before from the simulations, to a certain extent, we will be able to predict through simulations the behaviour of the power unit, once we apply the new regulations
“At the same time, offline simulations, or even running these regulations at the simulator doesn’t mean that you can cover all the possible scenarios.
“So, you have to definitely be quite forward-thinking in terms of considering everything that can happen and make sure that the way in which you exploit the power unit is the most optimal. But I’m quite confident that, to a certain extent, we can achieve this with the current simulation."
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Photo: Race Pictures
McLaren have 'filled' knowledge gap to Mercedes, says Stella
The Italian boss then opened up on Mercedes High Performance Powertrains' role in furthering the world champions' understanding of the updated regulations, adding McLaren are now "much better prepared" for race day.
“I can also confirm that in terms of working together with HPP, and even in terms of developing the simulation tools, together with HPP, we have made a significant step forward compared to where we were in Australia. So I think as a team, we are now much more prepared."
Stella admitted a "gap" in knowledge to Mercedes was a "natural consequence" of being a customer team, but expressed confidence that it is one McLaren have filled after F1's five-week break.
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“While at the start of the season, a deficit might have existed for the natural consequence of being a customer team when the programming was so pushed, also from a power unit point of view – and that was okay, and that was something that we were ready to accept, and we processed very constructively together with HPP.
“But now, later in the season, I think we have filled this gap, and we should have all the tools that are required to extract the most out of the power unit.”
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Miami Grand Prix
Overview
Friday 01.05.26
Practice 1
04:00 PM
Sprint Qualification
08:30 PM
Saturday 02.05.26
Sprint Race
04:00 PM
Qualification
08:00 PM
Sunday 03.05.26
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Friday 01.05.26
Practice 1
Fri 04:00 PM
Sprint Qualification
Fri 08:30 PM
Saturday 02.05.26
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F1-stand 2026
Season
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | MercedesMER | 72 | |
2 | MercedesMER | 63 | |
3 | FerrariFER | 49 | |
4 | FerrariFER | 41 | |
5 | McLarenMCL | 25 | |
6 | McLarenMCL | 21 | |
7 | HaasHAA | 17 | |
8 | AlpineALP | 15 | |
9 | Red Bull RacingRBR | 12 | |
10 | Racing BullsRCB | 10 |
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