2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

[MTudor]

I'm not going to watch F1 in 2026 with this regs!!!
I don't care if Mcaren will solve their deployment/harvesting issues,this is FAKE AF!!!

[Darth-Piekus]

So Mclaren and the other customers did get the latest Mercedes Engine spec in Melbourne. That means that Mercedes had a lot of more time to learn it with the best software than it's customers. Combine it with the fact that Mclaren is still with the base car while Ferrari and Mercedes pretty much changed their whole car and I can see where all the difference comes from.

I'm expecting from Mclaren to neutralize that distance once they bring their own upgrades and learn to use the latest spec engine (that is electric recovery, software and engine). That is if there isn't more than that. Can someone give some info of what is going on with that?

[MTudor]

Zak needs to convince BMW or Hyundai to come into F1 so that we could be a works team,from 2030 onwards!!!

[Darth-Piekus]

Zak needs to convince BMW or Hyundai to come into F1 so that we could be a works team,from 2030 onwards!!!

BMW had powerful engines everytime they were in F1. I still remember these Brabham BMW of the 80s with the 1450 HP Turbos and how mighty were the Williams BMWs everytime we went in n tracks with long straights. We definitely need factory status at some point as it seems that factory teams can still find a way to screw customers.

[MTudor]

Sounds like there is A LOT to learn about the Merc PU as a customer.
The lacking deployment comments sound even less naive now.

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/mercedes ... stralia-gp

Again, it’s encouraging that there is some low hanging fruit to be had from the PU it’s just how long will it take to figure it out?

This sounds like Mercedes HPP is doing bare minimum, providing the PU but not really sharing all the data to simulate it properly.

Cheeky from Mercedes. Other Mercedes customers should form a working group to speed up the learning process.

I expected HPP to behave better than that. I guess if it is a Merc vs Ferrari battle that I know who I will support.

Mclaren should by the IPO from Renault of it's 2026 engine,they would have it and develope their own engine like RedBull in partership with (Renault)BMW,Hyndai and attract them into F1.

[_cerber1]

Any information on chassis upgrade?

[Ben1980]

I'm not going to watch F1 in 2026 with this regs!!!
I don't care if Mcaren will solve their deployment/harvesting issues,this is FAKE AF!!!

Ok. Thanks for sharing.

[AR3-GP]

[bauc]

What’s the situation with Mercedes PU and what they supply to customers guys?

Can someone explain it simply to me?

Is it correct that all teams now have the latest spec engine? But that in testing only the Merc works team had it, so spent 6 days optimising it and mapping it whilst the customers worked with the original spec.

Is it not the duty of the HPP partners to support McLaren and other customers to extract the best from it?

It just feels a bit like that hollow 2014 reg reset if there are fans being played, which would disappoint me as someone who wants to see genuine competition.

It’s likely to take several race weekends for customers to really get to grips with the PU right?

PU final version was homologated week before this first race, so from Race 1, Mercedes is to provide the same spec engine to its customer teams, but prior to that, in preseason testing, they were not obliged to, so all of the mapings and setting Mclaren and others have used in preseason basically are off/not the best match for the latest spec of the PU, so in a way it was a blow under the belt from Mercedes, but it is to be expected, I think the team will need 3-4 race weekends to full understand how to map and operate the new PU, which puts Mercedes in a HUGE advantage, but this is how things are, its nobody fault that we do not produce our own PU.

[FittingMechanics]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HC52mUnWwAA ... =4096x4096

Good example to show that in this harvesting formula you can have lower apex speed and lower top speed (Mercedes compared to Ferrari) and yet be faster.

Going to wreck havoc on our ability to analyze data.

[venkyhere]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HC52mUnWwAA ... =4096x4096

Good example to show that in this harvesting formula you can have lower apex speed and lower top speed (Mercedes compared to Ferrari) and yet be faster.

Going to wreck havoc on our ability to analyze data.

Bingo.
I have given up trying to analyze lap trace comparisons. It's meaningless, when we can't distinguish between aero-grip or mechanical grip from deployment thrust ; and can't distinguish braking efficiency from recharge load.

[De Wet]

I read somewhere that the reason the team didn't replace LN's Front Wing during qualifying was because they did not have a spare. If this is accurate, it will most probably be one of the parts they will develop quickly with new floor.

[SilviuAgo]

There’s a lot of talk about the Mercedes engines and whether it's mandatory for McLaren, Williams, and Alpine to run the exact same engine as the factory team. People keep asking why Mercedes is considered so far ahead when McLaren has the same engines—something Russell even mentioned this weekend.

Let me explain it simply: it’s like being an engineer working on a new Samsung phone, developing both the hardware and the software. You’re involved from day zero—the testing, the features, the shortcuts, the performance tuning, everything. Naturally, at launch, I can buy the exact same phone with the exact same specs, but will I know how to use it as well as you do? No. I have to learn.

Can I know every trick and feature that you already mastered? No. I’m still learning. Can I squeeze out the same performance as quickly as you can? Not yet. But I’m getting there.

It’s the exact same thing with McLaren. It’s only natural for Mercedes to know everything—or nearly everything—about the engine they developed themselves. But McLaren is learning too. And the faster they learn, the quicker they’ll close that 1.0 to 1.5-second gap we saw in Australia.

I’m certain that after the summer break, we’ll see a different McLaren. Does this mean the title is lost for this year? Possibly. But starting next year, things will definitely get interesting. McLaren has the people and the expertise to quickly understand exactly what needs to be done. Let’s keep pushing!

[bluechris]

There’s a lot of talk about the Mercedes engines and whether it's mandatory for McLaren, Williams, and Alpine to run the exact same engine as the factory team. People keep asking why Mercedes is considered so far ahead when McLaren has the same engines—something Russell even mentioned this weekend.

Let me explain it simply: it’s like being an engineer working on a new Samsung phone, developing both the hardware and the software. You’re involved from day zero—the testing, the features, the shortcuts, the performance tuning, everything. Naturally, at launch, I can buy the exact same phone with the exact same specs, but will I know how to use it as well as you do? No. I have to learn.

Can I know every trick and feature that you already mastered? No. I’m still learning. Can I squeeze out the same performance as quickly as you can? Not yet. But I’m getting there.

It’s the exact same thing with McLaren. It’s only natural for Mercedes to know everything—or nearly everything—about the engine they developed themselves. But McLaren is learning too. And the faster they learn, the quicker they’ll close that 1.0 to 1.5-second gap we saw in Australia.

I’m certain that after the summer break, we’ll see a different McLaren. Does this mean the title is lost for this year? Possibly. But starting next year, things will definitely get interesting. McLaren has the people and the expertise to quickly understand exactly what needs to be done. Let’s keep pushing!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HC8vw31WUAA ... name=large

Its exactly that, plus that MB had this engine in tests also were MCLaren had it the last moment in Australia so they need to catch up a lot on this. Fortunately they have the data from MBs now to analyse and get there i hope soon.

[AR3-GP]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HC52mUnWwAA ... =4096x4096

Good example to show that in this harvesting formula you can have lower apex speed and lower top speed (Mercedes compared to Ferrari) and yet be faster.

Going to wreck havoc on our ability to analyze data.

I agree with both points generally speaking. I would just say Merc's apex speeds are probably a little bit supressed because they did a less optimal 1-stopper (short 1st stint, super long 2nd stint), whereas Ferrari's 1-stop is closer to optimal where you get the most out of both sets of tires.