Stella hints at Mercedes power unit deployment inconsistency despite McLaren's qualifying progress

McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella revealed the team is still investigating inconsistent electrical energy deployment from the latest Mercedes power unit after a positive qualifying performance for the Belgian Grand Prix.

Lando Norris qualified third at Spa-Francorchamps before his 10-place grid penalty dropped him to 13th on the starting grid, while Oscar Piastri secured seventh after a difficult weekend in which he struggled to find the optimum balance. Despite those setbacks, Stella described qualifying as a step forward for McLaren, praising both drivers and the team's latest aerodynamic package.

"Today was a step forward for us," Stella said. "Lando drove exceptionally well throughout the Qualifying session while Oscar improved and was very close at the end.

"As a team we optimised the package for Belgium, with our new wing matching the drag and downforce needs of this circuit."

However, Stella also hinted at an issue affecting the latest Mercedes power unit specification, suggesting McLaren has not yet been able to consistently maximise the electrical energy deployment.

"The latest power unit specification from HPP is working well, however, we are still finding it a little inconsistent in deployment and greener exploitation even if this doesn't appear to be an issue that is limited to our drivers."

The comments suggest McLaren is continuing to investigate how to optimise the deployment of the hybrid system, with Stella indicating that extracting the full electrical performance has not always been straightforward.

Despite Norris' grid penalty, McLaren elected to fit a second set of fresh tyres in Q3 in pursuit of every possible tenth of a second.

"In a field this tight, a couple of tenths can move you three or four places, so we chose to give Lando a second run on new tyres to chase every tenth and potentially achieve pole on track," Stella explained.

"Overall, it's a better session than the last few, even if there's still a sizeable lap time gap to the best Mercedes that we need to close."

Stella also praised Piastri for recovering after a disrupted weekend, while revealing that the Australian may have finished even closer to his team-mate had it not been for the same power unit-related issue.

"For Oscar, he maximised what he could after his running across the weekend had been limited, and he did a good job to progressively reduce the gap to Lando. He would have been closer if it wasn't for some PU under exploitation we are trying to understand."

Looking ahead to Sunday's race, Stella believes Spa-Francorchamps' overtaking opportunities can help both McLaren drivers recover ground despite their contrasting starting positions.

"Looking ahead to tomorrow, Spa offers chances to race and overtake, so we're confident we can fight for important points," he said.

"Penalties are frustrating, but with clean execution we believe both cars can move forward and contend, with Oscar aiming to start well and hold station with the front group and Lando capable of making progress through the field."