McLaren deliver Austrian GP prediction after Ferrari upset

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has backed Mercedes to return
to form at the Austrian Grand Prix after missing out on victory
last time out. Mercedes’ run of consecutive wins came to an end in
Barcelona earlier this month when Lewis Hamilton secured his first
victory for Ferrari. The Italian squad introduced a range of
upgrades in Spain that helped bring it into closer contention with
Mercedes. However, Stella believes the layout of the Red Bull Ring
in Austria could swing momentum back in Mercedes’ favour. “Austria
is a slightly different circuit,” Stella told media including
RacingNews365   “Stability, braking and turning is so essential in
Barcelona. “There, there’s more straight-line braking, then you’re
going into some corners low speed, and so it’s a slightly different
circuit compared to [Barcelona]. “I would expect that Ferrari
remains the faster car in the corners. “Probably Mercedes over a
single lap the best car overall when the chassis and the power unit
are both considered.” Having entered the year seeking to defend its
double-championship success from 2025, McLaren found itself down
the pecking order and unable to challenge for victories during the
opening rounds. While a battle at the front has formed between
Mercedes and Ferrari in the latest round of upgrades, Stella stated
McLaren is focused on its own improvements to get involved in the
fight. “We aim for the coming races to develop our car further by
bringing some upgrades, but at the same time, we are certain that
our competitors will also have some upgrades,” he said. “We want to
look at our own trajectory. We want to make sure that race by race,
we improve our car and then we kind of let the results take care of
themselves.  “So maximum focus at the moment I would say internal,
is what we need to do to improve the car. “Then once we are racing,
we will see what we need to do. It could be another hot and high
degradation weekend, so it’s also important that we improve from a
tyre exploitation point of view.”