McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes Ferrari has the best chances for victory during the Monaco GP. Earlier, Lando Norris also admitted that he fears the Scuderia. Based on the results in Montreal, the SF-26 seems to thrive on the street circuit. Stella explains that he mainly saw Ferrari excel in the twisty sections in Canada, a characteristic that is also very important in Monte Carlo. However, he does not count his own team out yet.
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According to Stella, the Ferrari chassis came into its own especially in the first sector of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where there are few long straights and the emphasis is mainly on sharp corners. “That characteristic usually also comes in handy on a circuit like Monaco,” he looked ahead to the upcoming race weekend. “They lost time on the straights, but there are hardly any of those in Monaco. That’s why I think Lando (Norris, ed.) is right when he says Ferrari is the favorite for pole position.”
Cornering
Still, McLaren could also perform well in the principality. “We can say that the MCL40 is probably better suited for slow corners,” he added. “Ferrari and Mercedes are stronger in corners with medium and high speeds. That should put us in a good position for Monaco. At the same time, we must not forget that Monaco also has plenty of those kinds of corners; at Casino you drive over 150 kilometers per hour, at Tabac 170 to 180 kilometers per hour, and at the swimming pool you go well over 200. Performance in fast corners therefore remains important.”
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“In addition, the slow sections are extremely slow; that is really the outer category, especially in the second sector,” Stella continued. “The circuit is therefore in a class of its own. I definitely see Ferrari as the favorite, but McLaren can be competitive and we can try to repeat last year’s performance.” In 2025, Norris was narrowly faster than Charles Leclerc in qualifying and took pole position. On Sunday, the mandatory two-stop did not lead to the strategic chess game the organization had hoped for, after which the Brit relatively easily took the victory.
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