Stella calls for more McLaren "intensity" after Ferrari and Red Bull upgrades
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Kieran is a freelance Formula 1 journalist for GPblog, covering breaking news, live race blogs and feature content across the F1 calendar. An NQJ-qualified journalist with more than a decade of experience, he has previously written for publications including MailOnline, the Manchester Evening News and the Eastern Daily Press.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has admitted that the team needs to show "more intensity" after slipping behind in Austria thanks to the upgrades made by Ferrari and Red Bull.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri qualified in sixth and seventh places respectively for the Austrian Grand Prix, around four tenths off the pace set by polesitter George Russell, with Kimi Antonelli, the two Ferraris and Max Verstappen also ahead of the McLaren pair.
Since challenging for wins in both Japan and Miami, McLaren have lost ground on their competitors in terms of the developmental battle. The reigning champions have upgrades in the pipeline but Stella says McLaren need to out-develop their competitors and do this by showing "more intensity".
McLaren need to "out-develop" Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull
Red Bull have brought upgrades to the Austrian Grand Prix
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In response to a question by GPblog, Stella said that the "competitiveness pattern" of 2026 shows that Mercedes is the fastest car, with the upgrades making the difference in the three cars that follow - Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren.
"We have seen that with the upgrades that Ferrari have taken, plus the engine upgrade that they have here, they just made a step forward. Red Bull's upgrades here are quite impressive in terms of volume of upgrades and here they were faster than McLaren.
"So it's a race of upgrades, a consistent pattern from a competitiveness point of view and I think this sets for us the usual requirement and demand in terms of bringing our own upgrades. We didn't have anything too significant for this event so we slip a little behind. We should start having something slightly more consistent for the few races coming and we will see there if we can give a bit of a turnaround to our season and close the gap."
Stella added that internally McLaren directors have spoken about "three months of development" that needs catching up. "There's only one way of doing this which is to out-develop (our) competitors. We need to rev our engine higher. We need to have more intensity in the business. We need to be good at delivering effective solutions.
"What I see in the pipeline is very promising, especially in terms of aerodynamic upgrades. But at the same time, we need to land with these upgrades trackside as soon as possible."
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