This forum contains threads to discuss teams themselves. Anything not technical about the cars, including restructuring, performances etc belongs here.
Thats in line with their usual run plans. Cant remember the last time McLaren topped a lap count in testing.
But the number I gave came from an earlier estimate half an hour before the morning session ended. I guess they just kept running after that to reach this tally.
SoyMotor is reporting a bit different numbers, they are apparently pretty legit.
Yeah, McL rarely tops lap count in testing. It is what it is. Only 2nd day the car is actually on track so no big deal.
As they've explained at their previous tests. They have a run plan and they stick to it.
I haven't been following too closely. Am I right in understanding there are no aero rakes at this test?
They are largely focusing on reliability, systems, setup, sensors and feedback?
If so,it does feel like running is much more limited in scope. With three tests they also have a ton of time for setup.
I can't see any reason why laptime count is hugely important.
Several cars ran with aero rakes. Merc clocked so many laps yesterday, they have enough data to analyze and they are planning to start optimizing the setup and pushing the car more already.
Lap count is definitely advantageous to some extent, be it data or reliability. There is enough days for further testing in Bahrain, that's for sure.
As they've explained at their previous tests. They have a run plan and they stick to it.
I haven't been following too closely. Am I right in understanding there are no aero rakes at this test?
They are largely focusing on reliability, systems, setup, sensors and feedback?
If so,it does feel like running is much more limited in scope. With three tests they also have a ton of time for setup.
I can't see any reason why laptime count is hugely important other than reliability.
I've seen some teams use aero rakes. McLaren was seen using flow viz.
Problem is we are not getting usual amount of coverage so it is hard to say whether McLaren fit an aero rake for couple of laps and then removed it (like they usually do). Journalists on the hills around are not really reporting every detail.
To me it looks like a conventional McLaren testing programme. Slow and methodical.
A couple of years ago I wondered why Mercedes preferred to do as many laps as possible in one test day, performing long series of laps, while McLaren preferred to do the opposite. While this was previously attributed to Honda power units, in recent years the reason has been different. I believe that McLaren, ever since the Honda engine era, has learned to extract maximum information with a minimum number of laps. They complete short series of laps, pit, change settings, and go out again. Or they simply change the program and focus on other details. And when they need to complete a long series of laps, they simply perform a race simulation. This is similar to how teams typically operate during race weekends.
I could be wrong, but over the past 5 years, McLaren have often been at the bottom of the table in terms of laps completed. And in the last two years, this hasn't prevented them from building a fast car capable of fighting for victories and ultimately winning the Constructors' Championship at the end of the season. And the Constructors' Championship is precisely a combination of engineers, mechanics, designers, and drivers.
If the car made it to the pits under its own power, then everything is fine, that's how it should be. We haven't seen a McLaren car cause red flags during testing due to a malfunction in a long time. Knock on wood. I agree with the guys above who wrote that there's no need to change something that's already working well within McLaren. Of course, accumulating mileage is necessary. But if they drive at least the race distance every day, the information the team gathers will be quite sufficient to understand the car.
Since the cars have changed significantly in technical terms, the teams will be learning more and more about the car throughout 2026. For example: will it be necessary to frequently bring different front and rear wings for different tracks? This question was already partially raised today. With high downforce in corners and minimal drag on the straights, will it be necessary to find this balance between downforce and drag? Looking at the FIA's model, one can conclude that the size of the rear wing they presented is the maximum possible. Therefore, there is a clear limitation on downforce, drag, and the overall airflow disturbance created by the car.
If this is the case, and this year's cars will already lose about 30% of downforce and about 50% of drag compared to the 2025 cars (these figures were reportedly officially announced), then it's unlikely that teams will need to use a smaller chord rear wing at Spa and Monza to reduce drag. I'm not saying that this will definitely happen, most likely it won't, but overall, the difference in wings for fast tracks with long straights and tracks requiring high downforce will not be as significant as we've seen in the last 15 years. That is, there will be a difference, but a small one. That's my prediction for this season.
People forget that Mercedes had a 200km demo run before us, that they are factory constructor, to have the same ability in test on day 1 is unrealistic expectation, so people chill off, there are 7 more days of testing (tomorrow + 6 in Bahrein) and we are still do to the demo run so.... patience people, patience please
