McLaren team principal Andrea Stella is downplaying his team's shaky showing at the relocated Bahrain Grand Prix in Sepang, calling the abrasive Malaysian track surface a red herring. While Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull brought aggressive upgrades and dominated the weekend, reigning champion Lando Norris and McLaren fell off the pace. Stella insists the data shows no fundamental car problems—just rivals making bigger development jumps. He specifically flagged Lewis Hamilton's charge through the field in the Ferrari as proof of the Scuderia's sudden performance leap. Rather than hit the panic button, Stella is banking on Singapore's street circuit to reveal the true 2026 pecking order. McLaren has more upgrades queued for the season's final stretch, but the team needs clean data from Marina Bay to know whether Norris can keep pace with Mercedes and the resurgent Ferrari. Singapore will tell the story.
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