2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

[the EDGE]

https://x.com/i/status/2024990488290377753

This is interesting esp since Alpine confirmed it

Is this really a "more powerful" spec or just the spec modified to handle the compression ratio brouhaha come August

More powerful, according to the report.

[the EDGE]

https://x.com/i/status/2024990488290377753

This is interesting esp since Alpine confirmed it

The Race have stated this too, on their pod cast

Mercedes had 2 PU failures this week. Maybe this is connected.

yes, good point.

Are teams able to make 'reliability' upgrades this year, like in previous seasons, or is the PU completely locked down?

If so, I guess you go with the old adage 'easier to make a fast car reliable, than a reliable car fast'

But saying that, we've seen Merc PUs fail on the Merc before, but not the McLaren, I guess Merc have push in the instillation a little harder in the past, leading to overheating issues

[CjC]

Coupled with the lighter car coming in Melbourne, McLaren could be in good shape there

[Darth-Piekus]

Coupled with the lighter car coming in Melbourne, McLaren could be in good shape there

Some speculation. If Norris bolted the C4 and tried a qualifying run like Leclerc how close could he be on that 1.31.999?

[Avocado]

Coupled with the lighter car coming in Melbourne, McLaren could be in good shape there

Some speculation. If Norris bolted the C4 and tried a qualifying run like Leclerc how close could he be on that 1.31.999?

Nobody knows. Maybe he would be a second faster.

[Macklaren]

Coupled with the lighter car coming in Melbourne, McLaren could be in good shape there

Some speculation. If Norris bolted the C4 and tried a qualifying run like Leclerc how close could he be on that 1.31.999?

Word is that C4 is about half second faster than C3 + NOR fastest lap was not clean and prob left 2-3 tenth on the table so yes probably?

[CjC]

I have no doubt that Lando could have gone quicker than a 1m 31.999 if he tried. I also don’t doubt that the drivers in the other top 4 teams could have gone quicker than a 31.999 as well. That’s testing though.

[Darth-Piekus]

So at Melbourne we will make the car lighter and get the latest version of the Mercedes engine. Things seem to be going well.

[mwillems]

Everything the team has talked about is to get to Melbourne and position the car for a development war, to be at or near the front. They are not concerned about 1st or 3rd so much, because so much changes. They simply want to boss that change cycle and be close enough that they are in the fight.

They are focussed on spending their resources wisely snd learning from other cars. It would appear they are focusing on developing things others can't see, inside the car, and for outside learning from other teams resource spend, and making strong progress once the race starts.

Flashy sidepods are totally besides the point, if this is their approach. If it is their approach, it is a very clever approach.

If we are 3rd in WCC but only 30pts off in the summer, we still get tunnel and CFD resources for 3rd.

I love the way this team runs.
Everything about their races and development is measured, paced and planned to get every little bit extra over the course of a weekend or season. It is meticulous in it's brilliance and approach.

[Macklaren]

https://twitter.com/i/status/2025169676049801377

Hmmmmmmmm.....

[De Wet]

Everything the team has talked about is to get to Melbourne and position the car for a development war, to be at or near the front. They are not concerned about 1st or 3rd so much, because so much changes. They simply want to boss that change cycle and be close enough that they are in the fight.

They are focussed on spending their resources wisely snd learning from other cars. It would appear they are focusing on developing things others can't see, inside the car, and for outside learning from other teams resource spend, and making strong progress once the race starts.

Flashy sidepods are totally besides the point, if this is their approach. If it is their approach, it is a very clever approach.

If we are 3rd in WCC but only 30pts off in the summer, we still get tunnel and CFD resources for 3rd.

I love the way this team runs.
Everything about their races and development is measured, paced and planned to get every little bit extra over the course of a weekend or season. It is meticulous in it's brilliance and approach.

Love how Stella runs the team.

[FittingMechanics]

Everything the team has talked about is to get to Melbourne and position the car for a development war, to be at or near the front. They are not concerned about 1st or 3rd so much, because so much changes. They simply want to boss that change cycle and be close enough that they are in the fight.

They are focussed on spending their resources wisely snd learning from other cars. It would appear they are focusing on developing things others can't see, inside the car, and for outside learning from other teams resource spend, and making strong progress once the race starts.

Flashy sidepods are totally besides the point, if this is their approach. If it is their approach, it is a very clever approach.

If we are 3rd in WCC but only 30pts off in the summer, we still get tunnel and CFD resources for 3rd.

I love the way this team runs.
Everything about their races and development is measured, paced and planned to get every little bit extra over the course of a weekend or season. It is meticulous in it's brilliance and approach.

Well said. McLaren plan for the season is not to have the fastest car at the start. It is to have best development and fastest car during the season and next year.

It is very encouraging so far.

[mwillems]

I'm sure they'd take it, but there will probably be big in season gains swinging the balance of power, so being a couple of tenths behind in Melbourne is not decisive in any way. Given how much time Mclaren found in previous large updates at the back end of regs, gains could be huge

[genarro]

Everything the team has talked about is to get to Melbourne and position the car for a development war, to be at or near the front. They are not concerned about 1st or 3rd so much, because so much changes. They simply want to boss that change cycle and be close enough that they are in the fight.

They are focussed on spending their resources wisely snd learning from other cars. It would appear they are focusing on developing things others can't see, inside the car, and for outside learning from other teams resource spend, and making strong progress once the race starts.

Flashy sidepods are totally besides the point, if this is their approach. If it is their approach, it is a very clever approach.

If we are 3rd in WCC but only 30pts off in the summer, we still get tunnel and CFD resources for 3rd.

I love the way this team runs.
Everything about their races and development is measured, paced and planned to get every little bit extra over the course of a weekend or season. It is meticulous in it's brilliance and approach.

Well said. McLaren plan for the season is not to have the fastest car at the start. It is to have best development and fastest car during the season and next year.

It is very encouraging so far.

It really looks like the team made great effort to build a very solid foundation that has a lot of developement potential and are now preparing for upgrades...

Its the start of a new regulation cycle and they are wisely playing the long game.

[Emag]

I doubt this is an intentional plan. Nobody intentionally plans to start slower than the competitors. You want to be faster than everyone else at all times, so everyone is trying their best to be in that position from day 1. The work then continues throughout the season to maintain that of course. That's valid for everyone.

McLaren are just limited, wind tunnel-wise, so they have to do the best with what they have.
It's naive to think Ferrari, Mercedes and RedBull are not aiming for the very same things (namely the stable development platform and aggressive in-season development). It's just a matter of who is going to be able to do it better. Everyone will try their best, but you can't always meet your development targets.