2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

[the EDGE]

Well that was a bit disappointing, more like leading the midfield than the back of the front, but plenty of positives too.

I have a feeling McLaren are quicker than they showed today. Great start from Lando, but really suffered getting boxed in. Looks like they were not on top of the energy cycle at the start, but I think they learnt a lot during the race and hopefully this knowledge will carry over and it will be much closer to the front in China

Biggest issue seems to be deg, an area they're going to have to focus on, in development

[Darth-Piekus]

How did Mclaren went from the best team in tyre deg by far to behind Mercedes and Ferrari? You would expect they would still have some advantage with the cooling system and Rob Marshall's suspension ideas.

[FittingMechanics]

Deg is probably just a byproduct of lower downforce. Car looked lively few moments I watched the onboard.

[AR3-GP]

Deg is probably just a byproduct of lower downforce. Car looked lively few moments I watched the onboard.

Lando's rear axle was all over the shop in my opinion (think about why Piastri crashed too, lost the rear). I would agree that lack of downforce is part of the issue. I think that's also playing into the deployment differences that we see against Mercedes. Downforce on the rear enables stronger harvesting. If you lack downforce, you can't harvest as much without locking the rears.

[_cerber1]

The maximum speed in the race is quite on par with the leaders.

[AR3-GP]

The maximum speed in the race is quite on par with the leaders.
https://ibb.co/Q3TSf1cP

but it doesn't mean anything because anybody can deploy the battery to different amounts and get a higher top speed while compromising the rest of the lap.

[Emag]

Deg is probably just a byproduct of lower downforce. Car looked lively few moments I watched the onboard.

Lando's rear axle was all over the shop in my opinion (think about why Piastri crashed too, lost the rear). I would agree that lack of downforce is part of the issue. I think that's also playing into the deployment differences that we see against Mercedes. Downforce on the rear enables stronger harvesting. If you lack downforce, you can't harvest as much without locking the rears.

Dare I say, the car is too basic

I am just messing now.

I think there were signs of this in testing as well actually. That T4 in Bahrain for example. Yes, on the Lando laps, half of the gap was there because he wasn't pushing it, but some of it was downforce related because Oscar also was losing time on his more faster laps there. Also T11. I think T11 was worse for McLaren in every single "competitive" lap against comparable laps from Ferrari and Merc.

Anyway, it's way better than their 2022 start. Will be looking forward to see how they manage to develop in relation to others this year. Gap is a little bit too big so I don't expect them to win this year, but never say never.

[FittingMechanics]

Deg is probably just a byproduct of lower downforce. Car looked lively few moments I watched the onboard.

Lando's rear axle was all over the shop in my opinion (think about why Piastri crashed too, lost the rear). I would agree that lack of downforce is part of the issue. I think that's also playing into the deployment differences that we see against Mercedes. Downforce on the rear enables stronger harvesting. If you lack downforce, you can't harvest as much without locking the rears.

I had Lando onboard in opening laps and a few times I thought he was hit from behind, the car moved that much. That can't be good.

[AR3-GP]

I have to think that Mclaren is working on a "Miami update" in the next couple of races. I agree that the project seems to be at a very immature state in all areas. Mclaren was trailing when they missed the first days of the Barcelona shakedown, and there is more evidence of that when Lando Norris didn't have a spare front wing for qualifying.

[venkyhere]

My 'read' is :
it will be a battle for P5-P6 between McL and RBR atleast until summer break ; don't even bother with Mercedes & Ferrari.
Across McL and RBR,
- I felt McL still retains the "balance & tyre life enhanced in final stint" characteristic from last year. Seems like a baked in behavior tied to some fundamental design decision.
- RBR is faster (because Max caught up despite driving through traffic and was only halted by sustained pushing in dirty air that led to more tyre eating and loss of front-end / balance) in general, via a more optimal usage of their PU.

[_cerber1]

but it doesn't mean anything because anybody can deploy the battery to different amounts and get a higher top speed while compromising the rest of the lap.

I think these are average values ​​per race, as they have been in the past. Besides, I don't think drivers have the opportunity to significantly change their approach to energy use during a race.

[Emag]

I have to think that Mclaren is working on a "Miami update" in the next couple of races. I agree that the project seems to be at a very immature state in all areas. Mclaren was trailing when they missed the first days of the Barcelona shakedown, and there is more evidence of that when Lando Norris didn't have a spare front wing for qualifying.

I'm going to throw in a wild theory I conjured up during Barcelona, but did not say it at the time.
And just in case some people take it a bit too seriously, I'll just put a disclaimer here. This is just speculation on my part based on my own perception. You don't have to agree with it.

Basically, I think McLaren's relatively slow start to the 2026 season could stem from them investing significant development time into a concept that ultimately turned out to be a dead end. They may have pivoted quite late to the current design, which left them short on refinement time compared to rivals. That would explain the delayed arrival at the Barcelona shakedown (they skipped the first couple of days to squeeze out every last bit of development back at the factory, by their own admission) and why the MCL40 looks, and I will emphasize here again, at least to my eyes, a bit more basic or conservative on the surface aero compared to the other top teams.

When McLaren announced they'd be late to Barcelona, my gut feeling was that they'd undergone a major late-stage philosophy shift, pushing everything right up against the deadline. The car was literally being finalized and built right up to the test, with no prior shakedown mentioned. Combine that with their statement that this is essentially the spec they'll race from the start of the season, and it gave me this immediate "that's it?" vibe on reveal day. Not because it lacks aggression, but because the aero surfaces feel a little too safe, straightforward, and perhaps underdeveloped for a team coming off a championship, almost like they had to rush the final iteration after scrapping or shelving something else.

Of course, I re-iterate here, this is pure speculation on my part. There's no concrete evidence or insider leaks pointing to a dud concept or dramatic mid-development U-turn, it's just a theory put together with the late test debut, the "juvenile"/basic look of the car, and the team's own comments about maximizing development time pre-track.

My intuition regarding the car hasn't really changed since seeing it roll out. I was basically simply waiting for confirmation that they're indeed in the back foot here. I do admit though, that I thought the gaps at the front would have been smaller than what we saw here in Australia. For all of them, not just McLaren.

[Jaymz]

That made for very strange viewing. They have hit the nail on the head for more nonsense with the artificial overtaking. I'll stick to the youtube highlights again this season.

[AR3-GP]

I'm going to throw in a wild theory I conjured up during Barcelona, but did not say it at the time.
And just in case some people take it a bit too seriously, I'll just put a disclaimer here. This is just speculation on my part based on my own perception. You don't have to agree with it.

Basically, I think McLaren's relatively slow start to the 2026 season could stem from them investing significant development time into a concept that ultimately turned out to be a dead end. They may have pivoted quite late to the current design, which left them short on refinement time compared to rivals. That would explain the delayed arrival at the Barcelona shakedown (they skipped the first couple of days to squeeze out every last bit of development back at the factory, by their own admission) and why the MCL40 looks, and I will emphasize here again, at least to my eyes, a bit more basic or conservative on the surface aero compared to the other top teams.

When McLaren announced they'd be late to Barcelona, my gut feeling was that they'd undergone a major late-stage philosophy shift, pushing everything right up against the deadline. The car was literally being finalized and built right up to the test, with no prior shakedown mentioned. Combine that with their statement that this is essentially the spec they'll race from the start of the season, and it gave me this immediate "that's it?" vibe on reveal day. Not because it lacks aggression, but because the aero surfaces feel a little too safe, straightforward, and perhaps underdeveloped for a team coming off a championship, almost like they had to rush the final iteration after scrapping or shelving something else.

Of course, I re-iterate here, this is pure speculation on my part. There's no concrete evidence or insider leaks pointing to a dud concept or dramatic mid-development U-turn, it's just a theory put together with the late test debut, the "juvenile"/basic look of the car, and the team's own comments about maximizing development time pre-track.

My intuition regarding the car hasn't really changed since seeing it roll out. I was basically simply waiting for confirmation that they're indeed in the back foot here. I do admit though, that I thought the gaps at the front would have been smaller than what we saw here in Australia. For all of them, not just McLaren.

Interesting theory. It's reasonable. Maybe at some point they did abandon a certain development direction in the windtunnel. Considering the noises that Mclaren was making about having shifted development to the 2026 car and how they believe it was going to pay off, it's shocking how far away they are, despite having the best PU. It doesn't add up and gives credence to your theory of a hiccup of some kind, that has cost them perhaps 1-2 months of development.

Mclaren was saying at the test that performance is in line with development targets and things are correlating, but if this was their development target then it's extremely low based on how quick Mercedes is.

With that said, it's also possible that a Miami style update is in the works, and it just didn't make the cutoff for production ahead of Melbourne. That would change interpretations quite a bit. A so called b-spec car that is just delayed so they haven't started the year with the car that they really wanted. The "real" MCL-40 could appear at a later race.

[proteus]

I have to think that Mclaren is working on a "Miami update" in the next couple of races. I agree that the project seems to be at a very immature state in all areas. Mclaren was trailing when they missed the first days of the Barcelona shakedown, and there is more evidence of that when Lando Norris didn't have a spare front wing for qualifying.

I'm going to throw in a wild theory I conjured up during Barcelona, but did not say it at the time.
And just in case some people take it a bit too seriously, I'll just put a disclaimer here. This is just speculation on my part based on my own perception. You don't have to agree with it.

Basically, I think McLaren's relatively slow start to the 2026 season could stem from them investing significant development time into a concept that ultimately turned out to be a dead end. They may have pivoted quite late to the current design, which left them short on refinement time compared to rivals. That would explain the delayed arrival at the Barcelona shakedown (they skipped the first couple of days to squeeze out every last bit of development back at the factory, by their own admission) and why the MCL40 looks, and I will emphasize here again, at least to my eyes, a bit more basic or conservative on the surface aero compared to the other top teams.

When McLaren announced they'd be late to Barcelona, my gut feeling was that they'd undergone a major late-stage philosophy shift, pushing everything right up against the deadline. The car was literally being finalized and built right up to the test, with no prior shakedown mentioned. Combine that with their statement that this is essentially the spec they'll race from the start of the season, and it gave me this immediate "that's it?" vibe on reveal day. Not because it lacks aggression, but because the aero surfaces feel a little too safe, straightforward, and perhaps underdeveloped for a team coming off a championship, almost like they had to rush the final iteration after scrapping or shelving something else.

Of course, I re-iterate here, this is pure speculation on my part. There's no concrete evidence or insider leaks pointing to a dud concept or dramatic mid-development U-turn, it's just a theory put together with the late test debut, the "juvenile"/basic look of the car, and the team's own comments about maximizing development time pre-track.

My intuition regarding the car hasn't really changed since seeing it roll out. I was basically simply waiting for confirmation that they're indeed in the back foot here. I do admit though, that I thought the gaps at the front would have been smaller than what we saw here in Australia. For all of them, not just McLaren.

Interesting theory. I would tone it down a little bit. I doubt they've had a major error, but maybe at some point they did abandon a certain development direction in the windtunnel. Considering the noises that Mclaren was making about having shifted development to the 2026 car and how it was going to pay off, only to basically be 4th best and miles away doesn't add up, and gives credence to your theory of a hiccup of some kind, that has cost them perhaps 1-2 months of development.

The Race stated they have produced a bare chasis to spare their windtunnel time allocation, to wait and see specific solutions of others and to reverse engineer things they find interesting without using extra time for it.

Ofcourse as allways you need to take that with a pinch of salt, but on the other hand it is logical to leave yourself some extra hours available with such long season ahead and with a handicap. They have shown they are able to deliver proper updates in the past.

The season will tell us who has an overall best chasis, who is dependant of track temps., tyre deg, and who will have the best reliability.