McLaren back F1 over power unit furor despite driver backlash
Andrea Stella has gone against the drivers with his view of F1's power units.
McLaren boss Andrea Stella believes F1 did an “excellent job” in recovering from formation lap issues during the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia and urged fans and drivers to ‘accept the glitches’.
F1 suffered embarrassment as power units failed during wet weather formation laps in Malaysia that triggered a length pre-race delay.
‘Accept the glitches’ – McLaren boss issues F1 rallying cry
As rain fell in Malaysia, the formation lap was delayed by 40 minutes. But when the drivers did finally get moving, it was at a far slower pace than expected for many.
This was due to a software glitch that had not been foreseen by the FIA, the teams, or power unit manufacturers, with the cars entering the same ‘limp home’ mode that Mercedes, among others, exploited in the early rounds to get an extra power boost on qualifying laps.
The drivers have been almost unanimous in their criticism of the situation, with reigning champion Lando Norris stating that the incident highlights why F1 ‘shouldn’t have any’ of the electronic self-learning systems.
It is expected that the championship could return to far simpler, cheaper, and lighter V8 power units in either 2030 or 2031, but many on social media are clamouring for the change to be brought forward.
Given incidents of super clipping (which remains, but the television direction has become smarter about avoiding broadcasting), yoyo racing, and the problems in Malaysia, it is easy to understand this stance.
However, Stella has batted against the prevailing wind, fully backing and even praising the work of F1.
Oscar Piastri vs Lando Norris: McLaren head-to-head stats for F1 2026 season
F1 2026: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between teammates
F1 2026: Head-to-head race statistics between teammates
“What happened at the start obviously is not ideal in terms of presentation of the sport,” he said.
“But at the same time is the first year of new regulations, quite complex, from a regulatory point of view, and even if it’s not clear to me yet what the problem actually was, it was also the first time that we started it with some conditions.
“So I think we have to concede that Formula 1has done an excellent job in making some new regulations, and regulations that came with some question marks from a power unit behaviour point of view when it came to racing, for instance.
“I think we have to acknowledge that there’s been really good work to make the show work, to make the racing work.
“And if there are some glitches occasionally, then we have to accept that, you know, there are glitches for everyone.
“If we think for the teams, we have many [glitches]. And if this is about the sport or some common software issues, I think we have to be accepting and be supportive to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.
“But as a competitor, I wouldn’t feel comfortable considering that, as a competitor, we have many issues pretty much every weekend, to say that this was not at the right standards.
“I think when there’s this level of novelty, we can accept that there may be some aspects that need some tuning.”
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.
You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!
Read next: Lando Norris claims F1 ‘shouldn’t have any of that stuff’ after electronics play havoc in Malaysia
