Andrea Stella has no regrets about not adding more upgrades to the McLaren MCL39, warning that an F1 2026 project could be ‘heavily compromised’ with a late push this year.

While McLaren switched off development upgrades for the MCL39 this summer, the Woking-based squad is facing an increasingly tight championship fight with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen as the Milton Keynes-based squad has kept adding further developments to its RB21.

Andrea Stella: McLaren’s aerodynamics had plateaued

Red Bull’s continuous evolution of the RB21 has seen Verstappen become a genuine thorn in the side for the two McLaren drivers, with the MCL39 – Mexico aside – no longer the clearly dominant car it was during the first half of this season.

In 2025, the final year of the current chassis and power unit regula

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