2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

[De Wet]

The Race:

There are indicators that perhaps the Mercedes is the superior chassis, with Russell’s minimum speed in the majority of turns on his pole lap a little higher than that of the McLarens, but this is dwarfed by the deployment superiority. That manifests itself in terms of speed gained on the straights.

[mwillems]

With Norris wing dragging on the floor, there was definitely more time, especially since it would have affected the air around the front left, which would have created drag.

Norris was getting closer to .5 away from Russell before the damage, if I recall. Aero difference may be even smaller than suggested for all we know.

100% no reason to be disheartened at this start, other than the racing gods didn't smile on us today.

Tomorrow will demonstrate the tyres and chassis. I have my doubts, but perhaps we'll retain the tyre life advantage.

[mwillems]

Worth noting that the power gap will shrink as we get to know the unit more. If we get finish the season 2nd or 3rd but having made more ground up over the season, we'll be in decent shape for next year.

If the folks at base can bring some good upgrades, we could close the gap as the year goes on.

[Ben1980]

Also need to remember weve only just got the power unit. We didnt have it for testing.

[AR3-GP]

Also need to remember weve only just got the power unit. We didnt have it for testing.

Mclaren had a Mercedes PU in testing. It's not like they switched from Audi to Mercedes overnight.

The idea that a lot of this gap is just "Mclaren doesn't know anything about deployment" is a bit naive imo. Did Stella mention if the car is at the weight limit?

[billamend]

According to McL, Norris’s PU has a deployment issue that they haven’t been able to debug yet.

Also, he has no spare FW.

[Ben1980]

Also need to remember weve only just got the power unit. We didnt have it for testing.

Mclaren had a Mercedes PU in testing. It's not like they switched from Audi to Mercedes overnight.

The idea that a lot of this gap is just "Mclaren doesn't know anything about deployment" is a bit naive imo. Did Stella mention if the car is at the weight limit?

https://x.com/formularacers_/status/203 ... 15828?s=20

If they haven't had the same engine plus maps etc, its hardly a shock they aren't on top of it.

They've said before about cutting weight.

[mwillems]

Also need to remember weve only just got the power unit. We didnt have it for testing.

Mclaren had a Mercedes PU in testing. It's not like they switched from Audi to Mercedes overnight.

The idea that a lot of this gap is just "Mclaren doesn't know anything about deployment" is a bit naive imo. Did Stella mention if the car is at the weight limit?

I suggested two tenths as a rough guestimate. Feels reasonable. And without wing damage, Lando would have been closer. So I just don't think it is as bad as some are saying. I do think we are more draggy though.

[f1Follower]

What if the engine does not perform as it does currently post 1st June testing? Will paddock agree that Mercedes were using Compression Ratio Trick or engineering?

As per regs the 16:1 compression ratios has to be maintained however the tests were at ambient temperatures. By this even Ferrari engine earlier were legal as they circumvent the test for fuel

[f1Follower]

Exactly, we are fighting for 2nd fastest team here. Wether long run pace is podium worthy I dont know, but single lap pace was decent.

Mercedes have likely got a few tenths from.understanding the engine. A finger in the air guess is that the difference otherwise is 3 to 4 tenths.

Nothing to be disheartened about, it's a long season and the designers have been in the kitchen cooking for a little while now.

Yeah. We enjoyed two great years, it can't last forever but this is not catastrophic. I think Norris was faster in Q3 then Piastri but damage hurt him.

Btw both Norris (few corners) and Russell (IIRC) started their laps before red flag. If Russell used the same set again then he might have even a bit more pace

The reason for 2 great years were due to acquisition of Rob Marshall from RB. In ground effect era of regs ride height was very important as it provided all the dow force and with rigid suspension (no active suspension) geometry of suspension mattered the most which ensures anti squat at the rear.

Rob Marshall expertise on suspension led to great 2 years for McLaren .

With flat floor suspension does is not of much importance

[CjC]

Also need to remember weve only just got the power unit. We didnt have it for testing.

Mclaren had a Mercedes PU in testing. It's not like they switched from Audi to Mercedes overnight.

The idea that a lot of this gap is just "Mclaren doesn't know anything about deployment" is a bit naive imo. Did Stella mention if the car is at the weight limit?

Stella must be naive then.

https://www.planetf1.com/news/mclaren-p ... ssell-pole

He doesn’t mention the cars weight but he does concede that McLaren have a performance deficit in some of the corners too.

[AR3-GP]

Also need to remember weve only just got the power unit. We didnt have it for testing.

Mclaren had a Mercedes PU in testing. It's not like they switched from Audi to Mercedes overnight.

The idea that a lot of this gap is just "Mclaren doesn't know anything about deployment" is a bit naive imo. Did Stella mention if the car is at the weight limit?

Stella must be naive then.

https://www.planetf1.com/news/mclaren-p ... ssell-pole

He doesn’t mention the cars weight but he does concede that McLaren have a performance deficit in some of the corners too.

That makes more sense because I don't believe it's all just energy recovery.

“I think at the moment, Mercedes, they are doing a better job than us at exploiting the power unit, but they have also done a better job than us in terms of overall grip in the corners.

“I guess in particular, this will have to do with the level of downforce.

[.poz]

Paddock rumors say that customer teams do have the same PU version, but not the same software version.

[Nicktendo86]

Paddock rumors say that customer teams do have the same PU version, but not the same software version.

That would be strictly against the rules, surely?

[AR3-GP]

Paddock rumors say that customer teams do have the same PU version, but not the same software version.

That would be strictly against the rules, surely?

It's against the rules. This rumor is being spread by not very credible media.