McLaren's Stella: Mercedes still the team to beat despite Miami rise

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella remains cautious after his team's impressive Miami showing, insisting that Mercedes is still the benchmark in Formula 1. Despite a major upgrade package delivering a Sprint one-two and a double podium on Sunday, Stella points to data suggesting Mercedes holds a clear pace advantage.

Why it matters:

McLaren's resurgence in Miami was widely celebrated as a sign they could challenge the frontrunners. But Stella's measured take warns against overinterpreting a single weekend. If Mercedes truly remains faster, the championship picture stays firmly in their favor—unless McLaren can consistently maximize execution.

The details:

• Stella cited multiple quantitative indicators that Mercedes has the quicker car, especially after the first three rounds of 2025.
• Qualifying gap: Mercedes had no deployment issues unlike Sprint qualifying, and their corner speed—particularly in high-speed sections—was superior.
• Race pace evidence: At the end of the first stint, Andrea Kimi Antonelli closed the gap to McLaren; at the end of the final stint, he extended it.
• McLaren's execution: Stella credited McLaren's “perfect execution” in the Sprint and race for masking the underlying pace deficit.
• The upgrades introduced in Miami (7 changes) worked well, but Stella emphasized that raw performance still trails Mercedes.

The big picture:

McLaren's strong weekend shows they have closed the gap significantly. However, Stella's comments suggest that without a faster car, sustained success requires flawless operational performance. The next few races will reveal whether McLaren can consistently perform at this level or if Mercedes' superior speed reasserts itself.