McLaren boss Andrea Stella believes the engineering principles behind the team’s recent success in Formula 1 will continue to guide it through next year’s regulation changes.
The Woking-based squad have been unstoppable recently, with the papaya pairing of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri frequently pulling away from the field and trading blows in intra-team battles while the rest of the grid trails in its wake.
Rivals Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull have struggled to keep pace as McLaren enters the summer break with a commanding 299-point lead in the Constructors’ Championship.
Piastri has claimed six victories while team-mate Norris has five, with only George Russell and Max Verstappen interrupting McLaren’s streak of Sunday dominance.
The transformation undertaken by the team since the start of 2024 is somewhat remarkable, but heading into the last season before a regulation overhaul, there are always questions over whether it can continue its success beyond such a reset.
Red Bull underwent a similar process, denying Mercedes a clean sweep from 2014 to 2021, before dominating the early stages of the ground effect era until McLaren curtailed its grip on the sport.
Stella is confident McLaren can do the same and transfer its recent learnings into next year.
“I think there’s a couple of things that carry over, independently of the technical regulations, and I hope that that will be a good position to be in for McLaren,” he told Motorsport.com.
“One is the technical fundamentals whereby we pursued aerodynamic efficiency, interaction with the tyres, efficient cooling. It is universal.”
What McLaren can take into 2026 amid regulation reset
Stella acknowledged that while much of McLaren’s recent engineering know-how can carry over into 2026, certain elements will need to be reinvented to adapt to the new regulations.
“There’s a part of the know-how that is transferable to the work on 2026 and there’s a part of the know-how that you have to reinvent,” the Italian added.
“Now we know how we can pursue aerodynamic efficiency on this generation of cars, but this is the result of many, many elements, iterations, an accumulation of knowledge.
“Part of which is relevant for this floor, which works in ground effect with the fences and with the side wings, but next year’s floor is completely different.
“So, you have to generate this knowledge again. From this point of view, that’s not transferable.
“But some aspects of the methodology or how you generate this knowledge, I think that will be transferable.
“So, the fundamental reasons why we are in this strong position now, I think there’s a large quantity that is transferable, and there’s a certain amount that somehow will be lost.
“And that will be a ground in which there will be, potentially, a levelling out among all teams, independently of where they were in 2025.”
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