2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

[mwillems]

I think Mclaren would have special insight into how they compare to the other Mercedes powered teams since they know the power unit parameters.

Does this test allow them to see other teams GPS traces like at normal tests?

Im sure they will have some idiea, I just wonder what is available to refine that idea.

[WardenOfTheNorth]

Could see them doing the 200km filming day between now and Bahrain…

Seems a bit pointless now, really… unless they actually want to film the car! In which case it would be easier to hold it in Bahrain, when everything and the drivers are in one place already. These things take a lot of resources to carry out, and I’m sure they’ve all got a lot to do in the next 10 days

I wouldn't think its pointless, teams would want as much track time as they can with these cars to verify reliability, get to Bahrain a day earlier…

That would make sense. Given that a filming day, is also just that, a filming day, Bahrain guarantees them excellent consistent weather for the actual filming part.

[FittingMechanics]

I'm not convinced they will use a filming day. Day 3 went so well that they probably don't think another 40 laps will be that useful. I'm sure if they had an issue on Day 3 that they would use a filming day before Bahrain. But who knows what they discovered, maybe they really want to test something out before Bahrain.

Really good news that they solved minor issues of Day 1 and Day 2 and had an uninterrupted Day 3.

[mwillems]

And got some flow viz on. Did anyone see aero rakes?

[Matt2725]

And got some flow viz on. Did anyone see aero rakes?

I only recall seeing VCARB and Merc using aero rakes. I could be mistaken though.

[Emag]

Can't seem to think of a reason why they wouldn't have aero rake runs. It's just that we get 3 pictures in total from an 8 hour test. If they did any aero rake runs, they probably did as part of the initial installation laps with limited speeds.

[MrGapes]

Handful of f1 reporters suggest Mclaren were running the sustainable fuels during testing

https://x.com/JPEIR0/status/2017615747967533226

At least one team (from the top) brought the new fuels to Montmeló.
Maybe that's why it suffered some problems.

https://x.com/ekaitzgilf1/status/2017619995589541966

They "tipped us off" at a dinner to Jorge and me before the Montmeló tests that the fuel issue was going to be one of the big unknowns.
For Bahrain, the teams will bring the new 100% sustainable fuels. No issues.
In Barcelona, it hasn't been like that. That's why McLaren (apparently) ran so "little" compared to the other teams.

backed up by this tweet from a journalist during test:

https://x.com/FulvioVigilante/status/20 ... 8758567375

The issue that occurred to McLaren, further info points to the fuel supply system + pump (Mercedes) that went KO, plus it seems they used their own fuel.
Regarding the fuel use, I'm taking the due precautions because it's very early, but it's a clue.

I wonder if they switched to normal fuel for last day...

[AR3-GP]

Handful of f1 reporters suggest Mclaren were running the sustainable fuels during testing

https://x.com/JPEIR0/status/2017615747967533226

At least one team (from the top) brought the new fuels to Montmeló.
Maybe that's why it suffered some problems.

https://x.com/ekaitzgilf1/status/2017619995589541966

They "tipped us off" at a dinner to Jorge and me before the Montmeló tests that the fuel issue was going to be one of the big unknowns.
For Bahrain, the teams will bring the new 100% sustainable fuels. No issues.
In Barcelona, it hasn't been like that. That's why McLaren (apparently) ran so "little" compared to the other teams.

backed up by this tweet from a journalist during test:

https://x.com/FulvioVigilante/status/20 ... 8758567375

The issue that occurred to McLaren, further info points to the fuel supply system + pump (Mercedes) that went KO, plus it seems they used their own fuel.
Regarding the fuel use, I'm taking the due precautions because it's very early, but it's a clue.

I wonder if they switched to normal fuel for last day...

This is coming from a cabal of untrustworthy Spanish twitter accounts playing a telephone game amongst themselves. They have been spreading false rumors and speculation all week. Mclaren do not have a different fuel to Mercedes. The last “journalist” you linked has been wrong on several other occasions that I have encountered. My opinion would be to unfollow all of them.

[Ground Effect]

From a report I've seen, the deal with Motul is for transmission lubricants only, McLaren will continue with fuel and engine lubricants from Mercedes. (Petronas) It's difficult to trust such social media reports, a lot of times it's for engagement.

[venkyhere]

The issue that occurred to McLaren, further info points to the fuel supply system + pump (Mercedes) that went KO, plus it seems they used their own fuel.
Regarding the fuel use, I'm taking the due precautions because it's very early, but it's a clue.

I wonder if they switched to normal fuel for last day...

Do you really think a customer team will try using fuel from 'another source' than the engine supplier team, particularly in this new formula of synthetic fuels where 'divergence in fuel composition' across teams is going to be wider than before ?
We shouldn't trust 'generic F1 media' too much. Take 'news' from them with a pinch of salt. Whatever gets reported as 'rumours' / 'insider source' etc is usually a figment of imagination of some reporter/content-writer. Competition is super high, what with recent upsurge in popularity and reach of F1, post netflix, so chances of 'manufactured news' is very very high.

[Darth-Piekus]

Out of curiosity. Rob Marshal did say that the car we see in Barcelona will be the same at most with the one in Melbourne. However I'm focusing to the fact that he said at most leaving an open door that there will be a few changes. Do you think they will bring something new for Bahrain to test it?

[Ground Effect]

If they do bring updates, from his statement, it won't be significant. I don't know the impact of the new regs on rear wing levels. Maybe brake ducts and front wing adjustments?

[mwillems]

I wonder if they plan to assess if this concept is the right path before deciding how much development time they will spend, or where they will develop.

[Emag]

Packaging-wise, it doesn't seem like they would be restricted in going towards the Ferrari/Merc/AM route. They will be able to do it.

However, "going back" now means admitting the current concept has lower potential. They scrap development time and have to start on the back foot and try to catch up with the others who potentially have been studying that route for much longer.

Or maybe there's something "more mature" in the wind tunnel already and they've made up their mind about the way forward. Which of course would mean Rob lied about not seeing significant changes coming Melbourne.

If you ask me though, I honestly don't expect them to switch. At least not this early. They will likely bring minor stuff (or maybe a more refined floor for the race?), but I don't expect a big shift from what the car looks like now. They will probably see where they are and then decide where to go. I have a feeling McLaren won't be troubling the top spots at the start of the season and catch up later on, but who knows. I am not basing this on anything other than my subjective impression from looking at the cars released and how the shakedown went for each team. I could change my mind after Bahrain.

If they do end up having a 2024 kind of season though, I wouldn't be surprised (i.e start relatively on the back foot, but catch up from the first major upgrade package).

[the EDGE]

Packaging-wise, it doesn't seem like they would be restricted in going towards the Ferrari/Merc/AM route. They will be able to do it.

However, "going back" now means admitting the current concept has lower potential. They scrap development time and have to start on the back foot and try to catch up with the others who potentially have been studying that route for much longer.

Or maybe there's something "more mature" in the wind tunnel already and they've made up their mind about the way forward. Which of course would mean Rob lied about not seeing significant changes coming Melbourne.

If you ask me though, I honestly don't expect them to switch. At least not this early. They will likely bring minor stuff (or maybe a more refined floor for the race?), but I don't expect a big shift from what the car looks like now. They will probably see where they are and then decide where to go. I have a feeling McLaren won't be troubling the top spots at the start of the season and catch up later on, but who knows. I am not basing this on anything other than my subjective impression from looking at the cars released and how the shakedown went for each team. I could change my mind after Bahrain.

If they do end up having a 2024 kind of season though, I wouldn't be surprised (i.e start relatively on the back foot, but catch up from the first major upgrade package).

When you say the Ferrari/Merc/AM route, what are you referring to exactly?

The hole in the diffuser?