2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

[mwillems]

From this Rake comparison, McLaren is looking like a car that do not need cooling

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HBbIRDWawAA ... =4096x4096

It's about 21c, so the oddity is probably just how much cooling others are using.
The electrical system would generate ton of heat but I'm surprised if they need that much by way of outlets, how will they cope in 40c heat??

How many races are that hot ? Hungary and ?

A few, but its not the point, on the scale this is cool, shouldn't need tons of vents, unless Mclaren really have nailed it.

[Darth-Piekus]

Hows the race pace?

[McFAN]

Is it me or does the discrepancy between this car's apparent single lap pace and it's underwhelming long run pace seem very odd ?
I would like to think that they must be running to a delta and there's pace in hand but I can't see a good reason for them to do so

[Avocado]

I don't know about you, but I trust the technical team. They've already proven that they know what they're doing.

[Xero]

Hows the race pace?

Not great tbh. I still think they're hiding some pace, but I'd really like to see a competitive run this week.

[haza]

Hard to gage any of these times both piastri and russell set there fastest laps and carried straight on with a long run I feel there not even close to full potential yet hope by day 3 there’s a clearer image car looks balanced to say the least

[Ground Effect]

Let's hope they're running a very specific programme and by day 3 there's a lot more to be encouraged by.

[SilviuAgo]

No comment:

[LionsHeart]

Is it me or does the discrepancy between this car's apparent single lap pace and it's underwhelming long run pace seem very odd ?
I would like to think that they must be running to a delta and there's pace in hand but I can't see a good reason for them to do so

I already mentioned this last week. The difference between race and qualifying pace will be greater than before. Even now, during testing, it's 5.5-6 seconds. And I don't see any reason for the cars to be much faster in the race. But there's plenty of pace to spare for qualifying.

Distributing energy over a single lap isn't a big problem. Onboard images of Ferrari and McLaren cars show that the cars lose a bit of speed toward the end of the straights before the braking zone. The drop in speed is minor and won't significantly impact lap times. However, in a race, distributing energy from lap to lap and spreading it out over 57 laps would require significantly less power from the electric motor, and the time it's used would also need to be reduced. All of this would negatively impact race pace.

[LionsHeart]

I watched the entire eight hours of testing attentively. I tried not to get distracted, so as not to lose sight of anything. I was amused by how, from time to time, some drivers couldn't overtake, but the one in front would boost and start pulling away. I'd never seen that before in F1. It was so obvious that it was hilarious.

The very fact that the ICE-only races could really add an element of surprise. So far, it looks unconvincing. We'll see what happens in Melbourne. Regarding overtaking, we'll have to think strategically. Qualifying will become even more important. So, a driving error during qualifying could prove costly. I also think we can forget about the era when Max or Lewis, with a new ICE and turbo, could go from the back of the pack to the podium in a single race.

[SilviuAgo]

Getting the deployment strategy right will be a huge performance differentiator this year. Interesting how the fastest laps aren’t coming from the highest top speeds. Looks like deployment timing and efficiency are deciding lap time more than raw straight line power.

TOP (Vertical axis) VS AVERAGE SPEED (Laptime, Horizontal) IN EACH TEAM'S BEST LAP

Cadillac reached 343 km/h on the main straight; Aston just 317.
The top 3 laps (RUS, PIA, LEC) all had a moderate speed on the main straight. Still huge differences deployment-wise: Ferrari deployed the least out of T3 and in T12, and the most out of T13!

[Rikhart]

edit

[Emag]

Interesting comparison between the laps of Oscar and Lando. Even though they were set on different sessions, it seems like track conditions were similar. Lando was on the prototype tire which I think was softer but not sure.

Other than Oscar seemingly having more grip from T9 onwards, it's interesting that they switched deployment philosophy and deployed through T12 with Oscar while sacrificing deployment on the back straight. It actually seems worth about ~1 tenth to go this way for McLaren.

[McFAN]

Is it me or does the discrepancy between this car's apparent single lap pace and it's underwhelming long run pace seem very odd ?
I would like to think that they must be running to a delta and there's pace in hand but I can't see a good reason for them to do so

I already mentioned this last week. The difference between race and qualifying pace will be greater than before. Even now, during testing, it's 5.5-6 seconds. And I don't see any reason for the cars to be much faster in the race. But there's plenty of pace to spare for qualifying.

Distributing energy over a single lap isn't a big problem. Onboard images of Ferrari and McLaren cars show that the cars lose a bit of speed toward the end of the straights before the braking zone. The drop in speed is minor and won't significantly impact lap times. However, in a race, distributing energy from lap to lap and spreading it out over 57 laps would require significantly less power from the electric motor, and the time it's used would also need to be reduced. All of this would negatively impact race pace.

I meant to highlight that while the outright speed of this car looks very similar to the other top teams
the race pace seems comparatively weaker.
Perhaps didn't express myself clearly.

[Seanspeed]

I already mentioned this last week. The difference between race and qualifying pace will be greater than before. Even now, during testing, it's 5.5-6 seconds.

That's actually LESS than usual.

It's normally more like 7 seconds or even more on tracks with plenty of faster corners(ala Barcelona).

Remember that max fuel these days is only 70kg rather than the 100kg of years past. That's a really big difference in starting fuel weight.