The Latest Breaking News from Andrea Stella

The twin confirmations of extended deals for Charles Leclerc at Ferrari and Lando Norris at McLaren may not be much of a surprise, and are perhaps less exciting than if either driver was moving elsewhere.

The Briton’s previous deal with McLaren, signed back in 2022, ran out at the end of 2025 and he would have been an obvious long-term target for teams like Red Bull and Audi.  

New team principal Andrea Stella and McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown admitted that 2022-23 winter development targets had been missed when the MCL60 challenger was launched. 

There is no silver bullet answer and, instead, much of the brilliance that made the RB18 and RB19 cars so dominant lay in how all its ideas worked together as a complete package. 

There is no silver bullet answer and, instead, much of the brilliance that made the RB18 and RB19 cars so dominant lay in how all its ideas worked together as a complete package. 

While a raft of in-season upgrades delivered an impressive ramping up of McLaren’s form throughout 2023, the team started pondering towards the end of the year whether the changes had also introduced nasty characteristics that made the car less settled on the edge. 

In an era of no testing and with sprint events compromising track time on race weekends it’s not easy to come into a high-profile team like McLaren, especially alongside a driver of the obvious talent of Lando Norris.

Off the back of his most successful season in F1, Norris has strengthened his status as the Woking-based squad's lead driver, having scored more than twice as many points as rookie team-mate Oscar Piastri and achieved seven podium finishes – more than in his first four campaigns combined.

Lando Norris is in position to take his first F1 win this season if the team can deliver a competitive car, according to McLaren’s team principal, Andrea Stella

While preparations continue back at its factory for the official launch of the MCL38 next month, McLaren on Tuesday evening revealed the livery that its car will run in. 

Stella took over from the Audi-bound Andreas Seidl at the start of 2023 and was praised for steering the team in a different direction, implementing an overhauled technical structure in Woking while also proving to be a candid figurehead for the team towards the general public and the press. Once…