2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

[mwillems]

I really hope McLaren is strong in Melbourne and especially during the year. Many (drivers and pundits) are ignoring McLaren, only talking about Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.

Most Pundits don’t know more than most fans do… And we (the fans) know very little…

In 2024, most Pundits / Journalists had McLaren finishing 4th or 5th after pre-season testing… We won the WCC that year

The pundits are only talking about the season start, to be fair. They will have contacts in the paddock.

But, teams can still hide very well. If you were going to suggest the team.in the top 4 best at keeping quiet, Mclaren would be a good option.

[SmallSoldier]

I really hope McLaren is strong in Melbourne and especially during the year. Many (drivers and pundits) are ignoring McLaren, only talking about Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.

Most Pundits don’t know more than most fans do… And we (the fans) know very little…

In 2024, most Pundits / Journalists had McLaren finishing 4th or 5th after pre-season testing… We won the WCC that year

The pundits are only talking about the season start, to be fair. They will have contacts in the paddock.

But, teams can still hide very well. If you were going to suggest the team.in the top 4 best at keeping quiet, Mclaren would be a good option.

And those contacts in the paddock are also playing the game… Only points is, take what pundits say with a grain of salt… Recency bias plays a big factor, In 2019 some pundits placed McLaren as P9 after testing and they finished in a comfortable P4 all because 2018 was a horrid year for McLaren, it had nothing to do with their performance on-track after testing… As recent as in 2022, McLaren was initially placed “in the top 4” (coming of the heals of a solid 2021 and topping the lap times on Day 1, 2022 wasn’t a great year for McLaren, even beaten by Alpine in the standings.

But even more important than Recency Bias, it has to do with “clicks”, what can drive a conversation, what can generate more engagement… Every regulation change Ferrari is poised to dominate and finally get back to winning WCC’s (happened after testing in 2022)… We can already see the themes this season so far… Ferrari back at the front and with potentially the strongest car, Mercedes back to the front now that we are out of a set of regulation they didn’t nail… Red Bull potential champion, because Max.

Are McLaren left out of the conversation? Yes, McLaren themselves have done a great job of taking themselves out of it, no major upgrades for Melbourne, having the most “complete” car in Barcelona testing (therefore arguably a month or two behind in development compared to those bringing upgrades late in testing or to Melbourne) and overall managing expectations (they didn’t really went for fast laps in testing, the race simulations seem to be running to a target and didn’t blow anyone away.

I just hope they are indeed in the top 4, because as long as they are in within striking distance, they have a chance to be at the top… Should be a fun season

[f1isgood]

We have not gone racing. Lol

[venkyhere]

I know eye aero is bullsh*t and everything, but honestly I am really surprised how McLaren can seemingly do so well while having a car so bare of any unique surface aerodynamic solutions. The car is just a really really basic concept that has been executed quite well. You look at Ferrari, RedBull and Mercedes, they all have unique ideas that their chassis plays around with. Things that really catch your eye and attention with clever interpretations.

And here goes McLaren. Standard downwashing sidepods. Conventional diffuser. A leading floor edge that looks even simpler than some midfield teams, let alone compared to the other top teams. Visually speaking, it makes no sense for this car to keep up with the other 3.

Mclaren's front wing is quite unique with the steep trail edge,the "wing" is going downwords,not upwards,and I'm sure the are more eagle eyes here that can explain better the "plain" but sophisticated Mcl 40.

The Mclaren is plain, in places. Sophisticated in others. The front third of the car is interesting, and suspension, and these are the things we see. It does feel like the team may have focussed under the skin and theres a lot we don't know.

No one has the complete package and not doubt there will be a lot of copying between teams.

McLaren's biggest sophistication is cooling and tyres. The advantages from 2024-2025 is going to continue this year as well. People are expecting big from Mercedes. I would say McLaren deserves more respect, because it's the same engine and over & above, the aforementioned 'inherent design advantages' they have in their engineering team.

[venkyhere]

I really hope McLaren is strong in Melbourne and especially during the year. Many (drivers and pundits) are ignoring McLaren, only talking about Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.

Most Pundits don’t know more than most fans do… And we (the fans) know very little…

In 2024, most Pundits / Journalists had McLaren finishing 4th or 5th after pre-season testing… We won the WCC that year

I won't blame them, no one outside the team (not even the people in this thread) had any idea of the quantum of leap that the Miami upgrade would bring. Only Mika Hakkinen revealed it ahead of time.

[f1isgood]

I really hope McLaren is strong in Melbourne and especially during the year. Many (drivers and pundits) are ignoring McLaren, only talking about Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.

Most Pundits don’t know more than most fans do… And we (the fans) know very little…

In 2024, most Pundits / Journalists had McLaren finishing 4th or 5th after pre-season testing… We won the WCC that year

I won't blame them, no one outside the team (not even the people in this thread) had any idea of the quantum of leap that the Miami upgrade would bring. Only Mika Hakkinen revealed it ahead of time.

Oh did he? I thought he had done a factory visit sometime in 2023 and said about the Austrian upgrade.

[mwillems]

Mclaren's front wing is quite unique with the steep trail edge,the "wing" is going downwords,not upwards,and I'm sure the are more eagle eyes here that can explain better the "plain" but sophisticated Mcl 40.

The Mclaren is plain, in places. Sophisticated in others. The front third of the car is interesting, and suspension, and these are the things we see. It does feel like the team may have focussed under the skin and theres a lot we don't know.

No one has the complete package and not doubt there will be a lot of copying between teams.

McLaren's biggest sophistication is cooling and tyres. The advantages from 2024-2025 is going to continue this year as well. People are expecting big from Mercedes. I would say McLaren deserves more respect, because it's the same engine and over & above, the aforementioned 'inherent design advantages' they have in their engineering team.

Yes i highlighted the absolute lack of vents whilst others ran plenty. This could be telling when running at full beans. Wether the cooling is aero efficient is another thing.

Agree about chassis and suspension, but that front wing is lovely, and the portion of the car in front of the sidepods also looks pretty detailed. It's only the sidepods that look a bit bland. But that's not a performance indicator.

[Darth-Piekus]

We shal see tomorrow what the practise gives us and even more during qualifying. In any case I dont think I'll be watching it since it's so early in the morning and I need my weekend sleep. Good luck to the team and may they give it their all.

[dia6olo]

I really hope McLaren is strong in Melbourne and especially during the year. Many (drivers and pundits) are ignoring McLaren, only talking about Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.

Most Pundits don’t know more than most fans do… And we (the fans) know very little…

In 2024, most Pundits / Journalists had McLaren finishing 4th or 5th after pre-season testing… We won the WCC that year

Technically speaking all those Journalists were correct or pretty close to it, after pre-season testing that's pretty much were Mclaren were 3rd or 4th. They won the WCC that year not because of what was shown at pre-season testing but because they developed VERY well. It's far from a given that will happen again...

[SmallSoldier]

I really hope McLaren is strong in Melbourne and especially during the year. Many (drivers and pundits) are ignoring McLaren, only talking about Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.

Most Pundits don’t know more than most fans do… And we (the fans) know very little…

In 2024, most Pundits / Journalists had McLaren finishing 4th or 5th after pre-season testing… We won the WCC that year

Technically speaking all those Journalists were correct or pretty close to it, after pre-season testing that's pretty much were Mclaren were 3rd or 4th. They won the WCC that year not because of what was shown at pre-season testing but because they developed VERY well. It's far from a given that will happen again...

It was one example of many we can go through… But even then, 4th / 5th what’s not accurate either:

Bahrain = Mclaren 4th
Saudi Arabia = McLaren 3rd
Australia = McLaren 2nd
Japan = McLaren 3rd
China = McLaren 2nd

This is pre Miami upgrade, they were already fighting against for P2 / P3… The Miami upgrade allowed them to fight for P1 against an RBR that came from the most dominant season ever (2023).

If someone wants to take the pundits at face value… Go for it, nothing wrong with it, I’m not trying to convince anyone ot the contrary… Because they are proven wrong as much as they are proven right, I was just noting that their pecking order shouldn’t be taken as nothing more than another opinion that often isn’t based on data, there are several people in this forum that do a way deeper and better analysis than they do

[AR3-GP]

Gearbox problems for Norris. He is out of FP1.

[ort895]

Only 7 laps for Lando. Not ideal.

[Macklaren]

Well that was an anticlimactic start. But better now then on Sunday

[Darth-Piekus]

I see we are doing much better now in Practise 2. So what do you think. Is the time representative?

[McFAN]

I see we are doing much better now in Practise 2. So what do you think. Is the time representative?

Both merc and McLaren seem to have cranked it up a couple of notches, looks likely to be engine mode related.