McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says the team has experienced disadvantages from being a Mercedes customer team for the first time in 2026, citing reduced opportunities to integrate the power unit with the chassis compared to works teams. Stella emphasized the relationship with Mercedes HPP remains strong but noted that major reliability issues and technical regulation changes have exposed the limitations of customer team status.
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McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says the team has experienced disadvantages from being a Mercedes customer team for the first time in 2026, citing reduced opportunities to integrate the power unit with the chassis compared to works teams. Stella emphasized the relationship with Mercedes HPP remains strong but noted that major reliability issues and technical regulation changes have exposed the limitations of customer team status.