Why McLaren feels it will be ready to fight in 2025

Andrea Stella believes McLaren will not be in a position to show its true potential until the 2025 F1 season.

Stella has led the team from the midfield to the gaggle of teams fighting for second behind Red Bull, with the 2023 MCL60 featuring two big upgrade packages in Austria and Singapore that transformed the car.

Over the winter, the team did not quite make the step it had hoped for, although the high-speed corner package remains one of, if not the, fastest on the grid.

McLaren, however, has had long-standing issues with slow-speed corners, a trait that both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri feel has not changed much with the new car.

Although an upgrade is coming within the first third of this season, team principal Stella feels putting the entire package together will not be possible until 2025.

‘[The upgrades] will improve the weaknesses somewhat, but more work is needed,” Stella told media including RacingNews365.

“We have another couple of years with these regulations, and I think it will be at least another one-year journey to complete the exercise of resolving these balance issues.

“Hopefully this will make us very competitive in 2025, but I think this exercise will be important to understand from a methodological point of view, how you develop the car.

“From an objectives point of view, (the question is) what do you have to chase to prevent these kinds of issues or weaknesses also in 2026?

“It is very worthwhile work that is happening at McLaren now, and it is short-term and long-term investments.”