2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

[mwillems]

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.

No one said an intentional plan to not be first, I said they won't be hugely worried as long as they are close, and it looks like they have their own development plan that involves waiting before bringing more aero upgrades to the car. Exactly because they are limited, that was the point being made.

[Xero]

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.

Both of those can be true and coexist. I think the term "slow start" is confused with being methodical in their approach, having a solid base concept and then building upon it. By your own admission, the car looks "basic", which I put down to a well crafted base, no frills or hacks. We seen the exact same in 2024 and they out develeoped everyone to win the constructors, and then continued that insane progress into a dominant 2025. We're seeing the same thing happen, and with the limited wind tunnel time it makes even more sense to do this. So I agree with the sentiment that the team are intentionlly holding back initially. It's not really sentiment either, Stella has vocally confirmed it.

I think the team are in a really good place heading into the season. I'm sure many others in here like me feared the new regulations could throw us back into the midfield, which was a real possibility. The team has proven pedigree now, so I'm excited for the season.

[SilviuAgo]

Did they do a practice start? How was Lando's launch?

Here is the start you were asking for:

[McFAN]

Did they do a practice start? How was Lando's launch?

Here is the start you were asking for:

Nice one, cheers buddy.

[mwillems]

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.

Both of those can be true and coexist. I think the term "slow start" is confused with being methodical in their approach, having a solid base concept and then building upon it. By your own admission, the car looks "basic", which I put down to a well crafted base, no frills or hacks. We seen the exact same in 2024 and they out develeoped everyone to win the constructors, and then continued that insane progress into a dominant 2025. We're seeing the same thing happen, and with the limited wind tunnel time it makes even more sense to do this. So I agree with the sentiment that the team are intentionlly holding back initially. It's not really sentiment either, Stella has vocally confirmed it.

I think the team are in a really good place heading into the season. I'm sure many others in here like me feared the new regulations could throw us back into the midfield, which was a real possibility. The team has proven pedigree now, so I'm excited for the season.

I think they said they that the aero parts arriving at Bahrain would be at Melbourne, so I think they'd have been happy to be further ahead in pace,, they did then say that they would now sit back and consider the other cars and what their design path would be. I would expect then to be in the design cycle now to bring something after the first few races.

[SmallSoldier]

In an era of Wind Tunnel and CFD restrictions in addition to a Budget Cap… Allocation of resources (when and how many resources you use) becomes ever more critical… Leaving room for further development / investment after you have several solutions in front of you it’s the smart way to address it if long term success is the goal… Waiting until you understand what really drives performance in this new formula, where the weaknesses (on track) of your platform are, allows you to zero in and focus on development that can make a material impact on performance.

They are starting with a competitive base, enough for wins? Probably not (or it could surprise us, no one knows), but so far at least appears to be competitive… They are already saving resources against others like Red Bull and Audi who brought very different iterations of bodywork between Barcelona / Week 1 and Week 2… Time will tell if their approach was successful, but based on previous performance I would give them the benefit of the doubt

[Ground Effect]

I saw an X report during the first week of the Bahrain test, can't remember if it was posted here or elsewhere. It mentioned McLaren would be bringing it's first upgrade package to Japan. Anyone else seen that? There was so much stuff flying around, making it so hard to tell reliable news or click bait.

[dia6olo]

It should be pointed out that even with Lando's "great start" many including the comentators failed to note that the Haas started behind Lando and overtook him, and it happened before Lando had nowhere to go.

[FittingMechanics]

It should be pointed out that even with Lando's "great start" many including the comentators failed to note that the Haas started behind Lando and overtook him, and it happened before Lando had nowhere to go.

I don't think this is clear from the videos. I went back and rewatched it and I think Lando is still ahead when he reaches the Alpine.

Haas looked to be slightly faster off the line, not sure if better reaction or just better from 0 but soon McLaren was as fast as Haas.

[ali623]

Did they do a practice start? How was Lando's launch?

Here is the start you were asking for:

Getting the new-spec Mercedes engine in Australia could be an issue with starts again (Mercedes' still had poor starts on the final testing day).

[f1Follower]

Did they do a practice start? How was Lando's launch?

Here is the start you were asking for:

Getting the new-spec Mercedes engine in Australia could be an issue with starts again (Mercedes' still had poor starts on the final testing day).

Why do Mercedes have B spec engines?

[mwillems]

Engines are homologated on 1st of March, so it could simply be an iteration, or, there could be a response to a proposed solution around the compression.

Mclaren may just want to focus on reliability and not want to run an untested engine.

[AR3-GP]

@Emag, Scarbs says the Mclaren is more interesting than the Mercedes

[Emag]

@Emag, Scarbs says the Mclaren is more interesting than the Mercedes

Welp, I guess I am in the minority

[mwillems]

@Emag, Scarbs says the Mclaren is more interesting than the Mercedes

Also talks about the team with the faster car likely changing multiple times, suggests the Mclaren might have the edge on the Mercedes