Stella sets out McLaren’s development plan for second half of 2024 as he admits ‘surprise’ at competitiveness

Andrea Stella believes that McLaren can “cash in” on some of the development that they have accrued for the second half of the 2024 season, with the team boss admitting that the squad’s competitiveness has been somewhat surprising given their lack of big upgrades so far.

The campaign has proven to be highly successful for the Woking-based outfit to date, having worked their way to second place in the constructors’ standings where they have continued to cut into Red Bull’s lead at the top.

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Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have claimed one win apiece, while both drivers have stood on the podium on numerous occasions, which has put the team ahead of rivals Ferrari and Mercedes.

Given the aerodynamic testing regulations – which entitle teams who finished lower down in the previous year’s championship to undertake more testing, while those at the top are given less on a sliding scale – McLaren will have the most development time available to them of the leading four teams, having ended 2023 in P4 of the constructors’.

Quizzed on how this could influence the second half of the 2024 campaign, Stella answered: “In terms of the ATR, I’m not sure. Effectively Red Bull have taken trackside more developments so far, in terms of physical parts delivered when you look at the submission, than what we have done.

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“But definitely, I can talk for McLaren, we seem to now be in condition to cash in some of this development that we have accrued, and I would expect that for the second part of the season we will have at multiple times some new parts.”

With the team not having brought many sizeable updates to the MCL38 – other than a major upgrade during the Miami Grand Prix weekend, the scene of Norris’ first F1 win – Stella is expecting more new parts to come during the remainder of the year.

“In a way I’m surprised that we’ve been so competitive, considering that from Miami onwards we haven’t actually brought trackside many new parts,” the Italian explained.

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“So it means that obviously the Miami upgrade was big, but there’s some upgrades that will come in the second part of the season.”