McLaren 'Raised the Bar' in Barcelona as Focus Turns to Performance

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes his squad "raised the bar" in Barcelona by delivering the clean weekend the team has craved, shifting the focus firmly onto extracting raw performance from the MCL40 after a disruptive start to the 2026 season.

Why it matters:

Repeated Mercedes power unit failures, often hitting Lando Norris during practice, have derailed McLaren's rhythm at a time when every track session counts under F1's newest technical rules. A reliable Spanish Grand Prix gives the operational side breathing room to prioritize lap time over damage control, something rivals have already been exploiting in the tight development race.

The details:

• Stella refused to call the weekend a final victory on reliability, noting it must be proven across a full season, but confirmed the team used prior failures to fundamentally "reset and increase the standards" in its procedures.
• The overhaul includes tighter coordination with Mercedes' High Performance Powertrains division, which Stella singled out as vital after earlier PU-related interruptions compromised valuable running time.
• The MCL40 remains a work in progress. Stella made it plain that reliability is simply table stakes, stating McLaren's "mission is very clear" — the team now needs to think exclusively about performance, an area where he concedes there is "quite a lot to improve."

What's next:

Sustaining this level of execution across upcoming rounds will determine whether Barcelona marks a genuine turning point. With the operational gremlins seemingly under control, McLaren's engineering capacity can finally pivot toward the upgrade race — a shift that will ultimately decide if the Woking outfit can convert clean weekends into serious competitiveness.