Savannah Lenz is a Formula 1 journalist at GPblog with a broad interest in motorsport. With experience in content creation and journalism, she delivers accessible and reliable coverage for a global F1 audience.
With only two more races before the 2026 summer break, McLaren is looking to maximise its performance during the Belgian Grand Prix. However, team principal Andrea Stella believes they may struggle.
Speaking to the media, including GPblog, Stella said, “I think Spa will be an interesting track for everyone.
“Similarly to Silverstone, it will be a heavily energy-starving circuit. I think actually, here we have to say that the preoccupation that we had to start with [at Silverstone], in terms of lacking energy somehow, was mitigated, and we had good racing, even if in some conditions, still listening to our drivers, they raise flags in terms of how unpredictable the speed difference is.”
The British Grand Prix posed a chance for McLaren driver, Lando Norris, to make the podium once again after a late safety car was called in the final laps. However, the safety car stayed out and Norris finished fourth.
“This is a point that we should listen to because when drivers say that, they do it for a reason. So, I think we take away this energy of concern from here. It may be similar in Spa.”
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Stella continued, “The straights are even longer in Spa. And there will be some challenges in terms of power unit exploitation. It will be about energy deployment for sure. There are some areas in which you will not be able to deploy the straight mode because there are some fully tropical areas. But there are some lateral forts, so it will not be allowed.”
Photo: Race Pictures
Stella hopeful about new upgrades
“So, there will be some challenges in terms of opening and grounding, for instance, as we had here to some extent. We hope that we will be in condition to adopt the new specification of the HPP power unit. We will see whether some teams will actually bring some low-drag packages like we used to see in Spa.”
McLaren is one of the four teams that use Mercedes High Performance Powertrains (HPP). It is a customer team for Mercedes, which is currently leading both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships.
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“We will see the interpretation of this regulation because, with the straight mode now, you are less incentivised to use a smaller wing. Like here, in the past you would have come with a smaller wing, but teams didn't do that. But it's interesting to see if this happens in Spa. I think we will see quite an exciting race. When it comes to overtaking, because of deployment for the very same reason of the energy starvation that we have here in Silverstone.”
On the topic of possibly racing with wet tyres, Stella added, “We haven't had really proper wet racing yet. This can happen in Spa, and we will have to see how the power unit will behave, how tire warm up will behave. We know that this has been a topic that the drivers again have raised. There are all elements for a weekend that will require a lot of attention. Hopefully all this will unfold in a safe way and we will have good racing. We talked about the two to three months behind us.”
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Belgian Grand Prix
Overview
Friday 17.07.26
Practice 1
11:30 AM
Practice 2
03:00 PM
Saturday 18.07.26
Practice 3
10:30 AM
Qualification
02:00 PM
Sunday 19.07.26
Race
01:00 PM
Friday 17.07.26
Practice 1
Fri 11:30 AM
Practice 2
Fri 03:00 PM
Saturday 18.07.26
Practice 3
Sat 10:30 AM
Qualification
Sat 02:00 PM
Sunday 19.07.26
Race
Sun 01:00 PM
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F1-stand 2026
Season
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | MercedesMER | 179 | |
2 | MercedesMER | 154 | |
3 | FerrariFER | 147 | |
4 | FerrariFER | 108 | |
5 | McLarenMCL | 97 | |
6 | McLarenMCL | 82 | |
7 | Red Bull RacingRBR | 76 | |
8 | Red Bull RacingRBR | 52 | |
9 | AlpineALP | 42 | |
10 | Racing BullsRCB | 39 |
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