McLaren concede to 'heavy price' paid for crucial F1 decision

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has admitted the team paid a “heavy price” for pushing the development of its 2025 car right to the end of the season.

The Woking-based squad entered the current campaign seeking to defend both championships, having ended last year with the constructors' and drivers' titles in hand.

However, it was unable to carry over the form at the start of the new era, with Mercedes springing out of the blocks with the fastest car.

While it was able to challenge for the odd podium in the early stages, McLaren only returned to the top step of the podium last time out in Hungary following the introduction of a significant upgrade.

Assessing the jump in form, Stella said: “I believe the most important lesson we’ve taken away from these seven months of hard work is that, in times of great difficulty, unity is strength. 

“We’ve demonstrated, first and foremost to ourselves, just how crucial team cohesion is to bouncing back and getting back on track towards the top.”

The fight for the 2025 title looked to be between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri as the Woking-based squad enjoyed a dominant opening half to the campaign.

However, Max Verstappen emerged as a late contender as Red Bull continued the development of its car.

It forced McLaren into a response, but Stella admitted that it had a direct impact on its form at the start of the current season. 

“After three years of steady progress that saw us win three out of four world titles between 2024 and 2025, the start of this season has been a real reset,” he said.

“Not only because the rule changes were probably the most significant ever in the history of this sport, but above all because we realised just how heavy a price we had paid for the effort we put in during 2025 to secure the world double. 

“We could have fallen apart; we could have found excuses for not being able to start the championship as we’d finished the previous one, but that wasn’t the case. 

“We tried to understand the technical and strategic reasons, and we focused our efforts. And that makes me truly proud of this team.”