McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes Ferrari may have the best race pace at Zandvoort, despite Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc starting only fifth and sixth in the 2026 Dutch Grand Prix. Lando Norris may have secured pole position for McLaren, but Stella is not ruling Ferrari out of the fight at the front after being particularly impressed by Charles Leclerc’s pace during the Sprint.
Ferrari will start the Dutch Grand Prix from the third row, a result team principal Fred Vasseur described as disappointing. It certainly makes the task more difficult for the Maranello team given how challenging overtaking can be at Zandvoort, but the competitive picture over a full race distance could be considerably more encouraging than the grid positions suggest.
Andrea Stella believes Ferrari could have the best Zandvoort race pace
Ferrari’s hopes are partly based on the new SF-26 floor introduced at Zandvoort, which could provide more significant benefits over a race stint than on a single qualifying lap. That possibility is supported not only by Charles Leclerc’s comments, but also by Ferrari’s rivals.
Andrea Stella, who previously spent many years at Ferrari, believes the SF-26 could possess the strongest race pace among the leading teams and may be able to exploit that advantage in the Dutch Grand Prix.
“I think Ferrari’s long-run times in FP1 were the best. And probably in the Sprint Charles Leclerc was the best in terms of pace. I’m not sure whether that was related to the choice of Soft tyres or simply because Ferrari has the fastest car in terms of race pace,” Andrea Stella said.
That assessment makes Ferrari a serious factor despite its third-row starting positions. The team had already shown promising long-run potential during the weekend, while Charles Leclerc was particularly competitive during the Sprint.
McLaren still sees work to do after Zandvoort pole
After the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, which could have resulted in a comfortable McLaren one-two without Oscar Piastri’s technical problem, and Lando Norris’s pole position at Zandvoort, it would be easy for McLaren to conclude that the package introduced a month ago has definitively transformed its season.
The Woking team has continued developing the MCL40, including further rear-end upgrades for the Dutch Grand Prix. Andrea Stella, however, warned that qualifying performance does not mean McLaren has solved every weakness.
“Even though we were very competitive in qualifying, we saw in the Sprint that there is still some work to do on degradation and tyre condition,” Andrea Stella explained. “When we introduced the upgrade for Hungary, we knew it would be more beneficial in the high-speed sections. In a way, the extent to which this is materialising at Zandvoort is almost beyond expectations.”
“We didn’t expect to be as competitive as we seem to be in qualifying at Turns 7 and 8. But at this circuit, the low-speed deficit is partially compensated for in qualifying by the new Soft tyres. In the race it will be more difficult. You won’t be able to compensate for it with tyre grip, but only with aerodynamics.”
Ferrari race pace could challenge McLaren at the Dutch GP
That distinction between qualifying and race performance could create an opportunity for Ferrari. McLaren’s Soft tyres can mask some of the MCL40’s weaknesses over a single lap, whereas the longer Grand Prix stints place greater emphasis on aerodynamic performance, degradation and tyre management.
Ferrari had already arrived at the weekend with reason to believe that Zandvoort’s characteristics could suit the SF-26. Andrea Stella’s assessment of the long runs and Charles Leclerc’s Sprint pace adds further evidence that Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc could be stronger in the race than their fifth and sixth starting positions suggest.
Track position nevertheless carries enormous importance at Zandvoort. Since the Dutch Grand Prix returned to the Formula 1 calendar, every pole-sitter has gone on to win the race. Max Verstappen converted pole into victory in 2021, 2022 and 2023, Lando Norris did the same in 2024 and Oscar Piastri repeated the achievement in 2025.
Andrea Stella will therefore hope the pattern continues in 2026, allowing Lando Norris to convert another pole position into victory and McLaren to win two consecutive Grands Prix. Ferrari, however, remains firmly on the team’s radar, with its race pace potentially making Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton far more dangerous than the third row of the grid might suggest.
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