Stella backs McLaren's Monza podium hopes after difficult qualifying

Andrea Stella believes McLarenMcLarenUnited Kingdom3rd POS263 PTS can still target a podium at the Italian Grand Prix, despite Oscar PiastriOscar PiastriMcLaren · Australia · Driver7th POS104 PTS and Lando NorrisLando NorrisMcLaren · United Kingdom · Driver4th POS159 PTS starting sixth and eighth on the grid after a challenging qualifying session at Monza.

Stella's position matters because it keeps the team's focus on a top-three finish before the race has begun. Both cars will start outside the top five, so the result depends on making up ground during the race instead of holding position from the start.

2026

---

POS

3rd

PTS

263

WINS

2

POLES

2

Season 2026

What Stella has said

Merica F1 · CC BY 2.0

Andrea Stella's comments address possibility, not certainty. He believes the team can still reach the podium, but he has not promised a result or explained exactly how it would be achieved. The qualifying session was challenging for McLaren, and the reasons for that have not been made clear.

The public remarks stop short of a full assessment. They do not reveal whether the difficulty in qualifying lay with the car, the drivers or the circumstances of the session, and they do not say how far the team believe they are from the front of the grid.

What the grid means

Roro00713 · CC0

Starting sixth and eighth puts both cars behind several rivals and gives McLaren work to do before they can reach the podium places. Stella has not attempted to estimate how quickly that ground can be made up, but his comments suggest he regards the race as a fresh opportunity rather than a lost cause.

That is not an unusual way to frame a race day. What matters for McLaren is that the target stays alive beyond qualifying, because drivers cannot secure a podium from a grid slot. The focus now is on the opening laps, where the race order is most likely to change.

What is not yet known

Several details are still missing from the picture. McLaren have not explained what went wrong in qualifying, have not set out a race strategy for either driver, and have not said whether Piastri or Norris would be given priority if they end up racing each other for position. Stella's belief is clear, but the route to the podium has not been mapped.

The race itself will provide the answer. If McLaren can turn sixth and eighth into a top-three finish, the qualifying setback will be forgotten. If not, the team will be left to explain why the optimism expressed before the start did not translate into results.