2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

[Danzo84]

Delighted hes not coming to mclaren, he is a very talented driver but the baggage was not worth it. More than happy with lando and oscar as a pairing...just need oscar to up his level.

[Darth-Piekus]

Thank god he did not come to Mclaren. While he's talented we already have a world champion with all the talent that is needed to get more titles and the best teammate he can have. There is no reason to change something that is working and sully the whole harmony. Let the whole team now push so we can get some more victories this year and start next year with the best car.

[SilviuAgo]

Thank god he did not come to Mclaren. While he's talented we already have a world champion with all the talent that is needed to get more titles and the best teammate he can have. There is no reason to change something that is working and sully the whole harmony. Let the whole team now push so we can get some more victories this year and start next year with the best car.

Indeed. I just saw some interviews DC did this summer with Mika, and both said that McLaren has a different driver strategy compared to other teams. And this has been the case for some time: not having a clear No. 1 or No. 2 driver. Mika could only recall the Senna-Berger era, but the difference in talent was too obvious for that pair.

And when directly asked by DC if Max would be an asset for McLaren, Mika said that knowing the McLaren philosophy, he thinks the best option for the team is Lando and Oscar. Max is a huge talent, a 4-time world champion, but under the current McLaren philosophy, bringing him in would trigger changes that McLaren might not want to make.

[FittingMechanics]

I do think that Max would be an asset but I would want him to adapt to McLaren ways and not other way around.

Looking forward to the weekend, seems new rear wing and ducts is confirmed so hoping for a good result.

[Macklaren]

Agree that it is great news that Max is not coming to McLaren. I would rather lose the championship (and acknowledge that we didn't do a good enough job) than win with him changing the team culture.

Anyways, back to the car. Do we think the team puts the Maccarena wing back on for this race or is that for Baku (they had said withing 1-2 races after the summer break)

[SilviuAgo]

Agree that it is great news that Max is not coming to McLaren. I would rather lose the championship (and acknowledge that we didn't do a good enough job) than win with him changing the team culture.

Anyways, back to the car. Do we think the team puts the Maccarena wing back on for this race or is that for Baku (they had said withing 1-2 races after the summer break)

According to plan before Hungary, Macarena wing should be back on the car for Dutch (only) FP, but not to be run over the rest of the weekend, with full installment on both cars for Monza.

[Nicktendo86]

I can’t get my head around this attitude. Baggage or no baggage, McLaren always try to sign the best drivers in the world even if they are not saints. Max is the best driver in the world, I’d have taken him in a heartbeat.

[Seerix]

Agree that it is great news that Max is not coming to McLaren. I would rather lose the championship (and acknowledge that we didn't do a good enough job) than win with him changing the team culture.

Anyways, back to the car. Do we think the team puts the Maccarena wing back on for this race or is that for Baku (they had said withing 1-2 races after the summer break)

According to plan before Hungary, Macarena wing should be back on the car for Dutch (only) FP, but not to be run over the rest of the weekend, with full installment on both cars for Monza.

I have to say this approach makes little sense to me. Testing macarena during the only FP on the sprint weekend along with other upgrades listed by other guys here (rear wing and ducts) seems unlikely, doesn't it? Surely they need to use the only FP this weekend to evaluate the upgrades they actually plan to use for the rest of the weekend.

[Danzo84]

I can’t get my head around this attitude. Baggage or no baggage, McLaren always try to sign the best drivers in the world even if they are not saints. Max is the best driver in the world, I’d have taken him in a heartbeat.

Alonso/hamilton comes to mind but verstappen comes with his dad which is the issue for me, easily could distable team harmony and have others leave like redbull. Mclaren have 2 more than capable drivers already....no need to take that risk.

[Nicktendo86]

New endplate looks interesting!!!

https://x.com/scarbstech/status/2090520 ... 9iyhp-jHmg

[AR3-GP]

I've seen enough, Mclaren 1-2.

[SilviuAgo]

@thomasmaheronf1

They finally used that huge black space on engine to put Mastercard logo. Is not bad but I was seeing the other way around, with OKX and Mastercard.

[Macklaren]

They finally used that huge black space on engine to put Mastercard logo. Is not bad but I was seeing the other way around, with OKX and Mastercard.

Yessss my first thought as well. Thank God. The livery looks so much more balanced now

[Darth-Piekus]

Good FP1 result and the car seems to be competitive. Now onwards for the Sprint Qualifying.

[haza]

Traffic was a nightmare for lando in fp1 got hampered in pretty much every push lap he did