2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

[Darth-Piekus]

Nice. Let's see if Mclaren can make a good comeback. Not to get the championship but to send a message for 2027.

[Badger]

Mercedes is not giving up their tools to customers, and McLaren will be forced to develop their own if they want the same PU optimisation. So much for Zak's "seat at the table".

"And a lot of those toolsets are things that we've developed not just at Brixworth but between MGP [Mercedes F1 team] chassis team and HPP at Brixworth - and obviously the technical regulations are very clear on what chassis team IP can and cannot be shared between teams as well.

"So, in some instances there is unpicking that needs to be done before elements can be then provided to the customer teams - or the customer teams themselves are needing to do work and spend, invest their own cost cap resource into developing the tools to be able to get the most from the power unit.

"So that's probably one of the complexities that we've bumped into - but kind of understandable in a brand new ruleset and a new ruleset that is more complex than the previous one."

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/just ... u-deficit/

Mercedes is using the complexity of the rules and the reliance on software optimisation to basically retain a permanent advantage over customers.

[CjC]

All the more embarrassing for Mercedes if Mclaren out do them with the chassis. Again.

[Nicktendo86]

All the more embarrassing for Mercedes if Mclaren out do them with the chassis. Again.

Which I am sure will happen sooner rather than later.

[FittingMechanics]

Mercedes is not giving up their tools to customers, and McLaren will be forced to develop their own if they want the same PU optimisation. So much for Zak's "seat at the table".

"And a lot of those toolsets are things that we've developed not just at Brixworth but between MGP [Mercedes F1 team] chassis team and HPP at Brixworth - and obviously the technical regulations are very clear on what chassis team IP can and cannot be shared between teams as well.

"So, in some instances there is unpicking that needs to be done before elements can be then provided to the customer teams - or the customer teams themselves are needing to do work and spend, invest their own cost cap resource into developing the tools to be able to get the most from the power unit.

"So that's probably one of the complexities that we've bumped into - but kind of understandable in a brand new ruleset and a new ruleset that is more complex than the previous one."

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/just ... u-deficit/

Mercedes is using the complexity of the rules and the reliance on software optimisation to basically retain a permanent advantage over customers.

This is a double edged sword. Probably one of the reasons Mercedes had awful starts early in the year.

[Balalu]

All the more embarrassing for Mercedes if Mclaren out do them with the chassis. Again.

You're taliking chassis, imagine if they out do them in the engine optimization department. A little far fetched, I know, but a few races ago Mercedes said they were surprized with how good McLaren were suddenly using the engine (or something like that).

[Badger]

Mercedes is not giving up their tools to customers, and McLaren will be forced to develop their own if they want the same PU optimisation. So much for Zak's "seat at the table".

"And a lot of those toolsets are things that we've developed not just at Brixworth but between MGP [Mercedes F1 team] chassis team and HPP at Brixworth - and obviously the technical regulations are very clear on what chassis team IP can and cannot be shared between teams as well.

"So, in some instances there is unpicking that needs to be done before elements can be then provided to the customer teams - or the customer teams themselves are needing to do work and spend, invest their own cost cap resource into developing the tools to be able to get the most from the power unit.

"So that's probably one of the complexities that we've bumped into - but kind of understandable in a brand new ruleset and a new ruleset that is more complex than the previous one."

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/just ... u-deficit/

Mercedes is using the complexity of the rules and the reliance on software optimisation to basically retain a permanent advantage over customers.

This is a double edged sword. Probably one of the reasons Mercedes had awful starts early in the year.

It's a single edged sword. Customers can't hide engine data from HPP, and HPP exists to serve the factory team.

[FittingMechanics]

Mercedes is not giving up their tools to customers, and McLaren will be forced to develop their own if they want the same PU optimisation. So much for Zak's "seat at the table".
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/just ... u-deficit/

Mercedes is using the complexity of the rules and the reliance on software optimisation to basically retain a permanent advantage over customers.

This is a double edged sword. Probably one of the reasons Mercedes had awful starts early in the year.

It's a single edged sword. Customers can't hide engine data from HPP, and HPP exists to serve the factory team.

Yeah but the tools can remain in house. That develop an engine use strategy. In theory.

In any case, this is not in the spirit of the regulations (that engine maker hides stuff from customers) and I hope it gets outlawed.

[AR3-GP]

Mercedes (team) can ask questions about the PU that Mclaren probably cannot for IP (Brixworth) reasons. So that helps Mercedes (team) to build better PU simulation software.

[KimiRai]

New rear wing and rear brake ducts according to Neil Houldey.

[CjC]

I’m interested to see what the new rear wing looks like.

[AR3-GP]

I expect Lando Norris to win again in Zandvoort. Mclaren have done the Hungary-Zandvoort double in 2024 and 2025. What works in Hungary works in Zandvoort.

[KimiRai]

I expect Lando Norris to win again in Zandvoort. Mclaren have done the Hungary-Zandvoort double in 2024 and 2025. What works in Hungary works in Zandvoort.

McLaren will eventually have best chassis... they have a super technical team. Any kind of deficiencies this year due to 2025 title fight late start and wheelbase limitations will be passing and they will be up there again, I have no doubt. Especially with customer disadvantage slowly diminishing.

Brackley is not the same as a decade ago. Red Bull are a corpse. Ferrari has improved, but I feel only tech team close to McLaren in pure potential are Aston... if they weren't imploding constantly. Maybe in three years.

[Emag]

I think RedBull has exceeded expectations. They had a very difficult job, both on developing a car in the midsts of restructuring, but also in developing a Power Unit fully in house for the first time. Not to mention their primitive wind tunnel.

I understand some people would have liked them to be better because Max is there but some things need to be viewed in a more objective manner. Would have been crazy impressive for them to be contenders from the first year already.

I expect both McLaren and RedBull to be more serious challengers next year though.

[SilviuAgo]

So now everyone at McLaren (including Oscar ) can relax.