2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

[FittingMechanics]

That even assumes they showed The Race anything real / representative of the testing spec too. They put out an article discussing the Merc launch renders appearing to not have downwashing pods, and then the real car appeared with different ones that did.

I listened to the Race video on YouTube and they said that the team showed them preview renders in a black testing livery, that they could notice downwashing sidepods and pushrod front, but that some areas were intentionally left hidden/simple. My guess is these will be public renders they release which will hide anything interesting.

Not sure these guys would notice that mouse hole on the renders, especially as it is likely the team would hide it in a render.

I'm not sure why "downwashing sidepod" would mean no mouse hole, could someone explain?

[Badger]

That even assumes they showed The Race anything real / representative of the testing spec too. They put out an article discussing the Merc launch renders appearing to not have downwashing pods, and then the real car appeared with different ones that did.

I'm not sure why "downwashing sidepod" would mean no mouse hole, could someone explain?

Ferrari and Merc have opted for nearly identical deep undercut "double decker" sidepods where they guide clean mass flow in the undercut right towards the slot in the diffuser. That type of uncanny convergence from two major teams indicates that perhaps that sidepod shape is optimal/natural for the slotted diffuser.

[lio007]

So the Mcl40 is currently running on a dyno at AVL in Austria

Does anyone know anything about this place? Presumably it’s a full car dyno, proving reliability?

Does that mean the car’s fully assembled? What sort of capabilities does this place have to test? presumably a rolling road, can it simulate wind, heat etc?

Is something like this:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/G_WbfEVWIAA ... me=900x900

Full car dyno, where the entire car: aero, suspension, brakes and power unit are tested at once. Replicating a physical track test

Aero is strictly forbidden. Wings and bodywork attached to the car are NOT allowed.

[ScottR267]

https://www.mclaren.com/racing/partners ... la-1-team/

https://www.mclaren.com/racing/partners ... ngagement/

X2 new partners for the team

[DiogoBrand]

https://www.mclaren.com/racing/partners ... la-1-team/

https://www.mclaren.com/racing/partners ... ngagement/

X2 new partners for the team

Man, you gotta give it to Zak. To think he took the car from this:

To this:

And is still signing new sponsors left, right and center.
Getting 3 titles in 2 years is obviously more impressive than signing loads of sponsors, but it just shows how the team is firing on all cylinders.
A remember a while back there was some communication from Red Bull saying it didn't make sense to sign any more sponsors because they were already making more than they could spend with the cost cap, McLaren should be in a similar spot, I imagine. Is there a way of knowing how much money the team is earning versus the spenditure?

Edit: looking more at the MCL32, you know a team is in bad shape when they cover the whole rear wing flap with the team's name, and the main logo on the side of the car is from a simracing event they're promoting themselves.

[Macklaren]

So Ferrari is also skipping Monday running at Barcelona even though the car is ready. I'm sure people will say they are in trouble

[Fred]

So Ferrari is also skipping Monday running at Barcelona even though the car is ready. I'm sure people will say they are in trouble

I wouldn’t stress about what AR3-GP has to say. They seem to dislike McLaren for a while now for whatever reason. As others have said, McLaren isn’t missing any testing, they’re just opting to run later in the week and they’re not the only team choosing to do so.

What does seem interesting, and potentially concerning, is that everyone seems to be having problems with the Mercedes engine. There were rumours that Mercedes was having issues getting it started up and working, although they disappeared pretty quickly once Mercedes did their first runs. McLaren has been at AVL and had it on the dyno there testing for a bit though. Alpine had to delay their first runs due to issues with the engine and are apparently going to AVL as well (if they’re not already there). Williams also has delays, but not confirmed if they have anything to do with the engine. Hopefully it’s just a bit finicky to get up and running, but works well once it’s going. Both Mercedes and Alpine did seem to turn around and get the cars working fairly quickly, so I don’t have too many concerns on that front, but I hope the underlying cause doesn’t create other issues or results in a loss of power.

[CjC]

https://www.mclaren.com/racing/partners ... la-1-team/

https://www.mclaren.com/racing/partners ... ngagement/

X2 new partners for the team

Man, you gotta give it to Zak. To think he took the car from this:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... _FP2_2.jpg
To this:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... _-_FP1.jpg
And is still signing new sponsors left, right and center.
Getting 3 titles in 2 years is obviously more impressive than signing loads of sponsors, but it just shows how the team is firing on all cylinders.
A remember a while back there was some communication from Red Bull saying it didn't make sense to sign any more sponsors because they were already making more than they could spend with the cost cap, McLaren should be in a similar spot, I imagine. Is there a way of knowing how much money the team is earning versus the spenditure?

Edit: looking more at the MCL32, you know a team is in bad shape when they cover the whole rear wing flap with the team's name, and the main logo on the side of the car is from a simracing event they're promoting themselves.

You got me googling and I found this from Forbes:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/justinbirn ... high-gear/

Mclaren are in safe hands with Zak

[FittingMechanics]

Aston also skipping day 1 but didn't confirm they will run in other days.

Everyone pushing to the limit.

Does anyone know whether McLaren can do a shakedown or filming day on Tuesday and get 3 days of running after that?

[MTudor]

Can we agree that the Championship is not won on the winter test day 1?!
Mclaren choosing not to go on a green track seems reasonable enough to me,especially when you have such a huge rule change.

[FittingMechanics]

Can we agree that the Championship is not won on the winter test day 1?!
Mclaren choosing not to go on a green track seems reasonable enough to me,especially when you have such a huge rule change.

They could have easily just said "we'll see about the weather and decide on Monday morning" and it would be a non issue.

It is not a big deal either way.

[_cerber1]

According to the weather forecast, Tuesday doesn't look like the best day to start, with rain predicted in Barcelona. The team will likely begin on Wednesday, making use of three consecutive days.

[mwillems]

That even assumes they showed The Race anything real / representative of the testing spec too. They put out an article discussing the Merc launch renders appearing to not have downwashing pods, and then the real car appeared with different ones that did.

I listened to the Race video on YouTube and they said that the team showed them preview renders in a black testing livery, that they could notice downwashing sidepods and pushrod front, but that some areas were intentionally left hidden/simple. My guess is these will be public renders they release which will hide anything interesting.

Not sure these guys would notice that mouse hole on the renders, especially as it is likely the team would hide it in a render.

I'm not sure why "downwashing sidepod" would mean no mouse hole, could someone explain?

Hole allows air into the diffuser that energises flow. Downwash sidepods are focussed on getting a lot of air to the sidepod to energise externally.

I cant fathom why you would utilise both methods, but that level of understanding is beyond me. You'd think both would help, but perhaps this type of aero interaction has inherent flaws.

Previous regs didnt have them, but I thought that was simply due to regs, but maybe it is because the concept doesnt work.

On another note, I really don't like the moveable wings, it looks cheap.

[FittingMechanics]

That even assumes they showed The Race anything real / representative of the testing spec too. They put out an article discussing the Merc launch renders appearing to not have downwashing pods, and then the real car appeared with different ones that did.

I listened to the Race video on YouTube and they said that the team showed them preview renders in a black testing livery, that they could notice downwashing sidepods and pushrod front, but that some areas were intentionally left hidden/simple. My guess is these will be public renders they release which will hide anything interesting.

Not sure these guys would notice that mouse hole on the renders, especially as it is likely the team would hide it in a render.

I'm not sure why "downwashing sidepod" would mean no mouse hole, could someone explain?

Hole allows air into the diffuser that energises flow. Downwash sidepods are focussed on getting a lot of air to the sidepod to energise externally.

I cant fathom why you would utilise both methods, but that level of understanding is beyond me. You'd think both would help, but perhaps this type of aero interaction has inherent flaws.

Previous regs didnt have them, but I thought that was simply due to regs, but maybe it is because the concept doesnt work.

On another note, I really don't like the moveable wings, it looks cheap.

It is because of regulations.

New regulations are less restrictive in wording. In this video analysis of Mercedes car you can see the comparison of regulations and why now you can do this. About half way in.

[CjC]

Can we agree that the Championship is not won on the winter test day 1?!
Mclaren choosing not to go on a green track seems reasonable enough to me,especially when you have such a huge rule change.

There will be a lot of sniggering from the back benches of the thread of only 1 or 2 teams choose to run on the first day