MOTORSPORT – MCLAREN team principal Andrea Stella is feeling encouraged following “a constructive and productive first phase” of Formula One Aramco Pre-Season Testing 2026 at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir last week.
McLaren’s superstar pairing of reigning F1 drivers’ world champion Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri split the track time between them over the three days of running in their MCL40 contender. They racked up a combined 422 laps, covering 2,283.864 kilometres, giving them valuable data that they will use to get their MCL40 ready for the 2026 FIA F1 World Championship, which flags off next month.
The team focused on car setup, exploiting power unit performance, and overall reliability. But while their tests were positive, Stella acknowledged they are still trailing their biggest title rivals in competitiveness.
“Today concludes a constructive and productive first phase of pre-season testing in Bahrain,” Stella said at the end of the third day of action at BIC on Friday night. “This is very encouraging to see with lots of key learnings to take away.
“With that said, and while it is still difficult to accurately identify the order of performance, it is clear that Mercedes and Ferrari are currently more competitive than us.
“We have some work to do to find performance ahead of the second test next week and the first race in Melbourne.”
Norris set the pace on day one of the tests with Piastri finishing fifth on the classification. Norris then finished behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on the day two timesheet when he was the lone tester for the back-to-back F1 constructors’ world champions, and then Piastri hit the track at BIC for the entire third day, when he ranked fourth-quickest.
”From a testing perspective, both drivers have provided valuable data from every individual lap in each of their sessions,” Stella explained. “The aerodynamic testing provides the team with particularly valuable information that will play an important part on the next steps of our development for the MCL40.
“It was also useful for Lando and Oscar to complete race simulations as part of their programme, including some running with other cars. There are some areas we need to work on, both as a team and as a sport, but we leave the first test with a better understanding of these requirements.”
Stella, who was instrumental in the successes of F1 legends such as Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen, and Fernando Alonso in the past, remains upbeat ahead of testing’s second three-day session, which will be held from Wednesday to Friday later this week at BIC.
“There is still a significant amount of work to do, but each lap we complete gives us additional learning, and that isn’t possible without the hard work of the team both here in Bahrain and back in Woking,” he said. “We look forward to heading back out on track next week.”
Meanwhile, Piastri echoed Stella’s optimism. “A productive first week of testing done,” Piastri said. “The car ran well and we’ve learned a lot about what it likes and what it doesn’t like.
“It’s going to take a while to get used to driving these cars and how to get the most out of them, so there’s still a lot to learn.
“I am looking forward to getting back out there next week and keeping this learning going.”
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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