2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

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the EDGE
the EDGE
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Re: 2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

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Swed3121 wrote:
26 Jul 2026, 19:25
geogate wrote:
26 Jul 2026, 18:58
cant agree with that. Oscar took the lead fair and square, they should race fair and square. There are limited circumstances when you do that kind of thing - today wasnt one of them. I dont believe Ferrari or Mercedes would do that either. We have seen both of them not do that this year already
So your happy to potentially cost us a win just to keep it fair between a world champion and his teammate that can’t stay within 1sec of his lap times, what a joke, this team needs to sort itself out and realise that Piastri just isn’t what they originally thought, give it a year and we will be right back in the Ricciardo situation.
Weren’t people saying the exact same thing about Lando last year?

Both drivers are phenomena, but like all the most talented, when certain characteristics align with their individual style then they can achieve much more. At the moment we’re seeing this in Lando, kimi, Lewis, where as we were seeing in Oscar, George and Charles. Doesn’t mean the latter 3 have lost it, or never had, or that their day will not come again

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Ground Effect
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Joined: 02 Mar 2018, 12:39

Re: 2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

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Swed3121 wrote:
26 Jul 2026, 19:38
Ground Effect wrote:
26 Jul 2026, 19:36
Not sure why folks on here expect McLaren to order a driver legitimately leading a Grand Prix to move aside for a team mate. We're not talking about asking a driver to give aside to allow a team mate try and catch a car ahead, but to actually relinquish a race lead? That would be awful and just plain wrong and probably goes against what the driver has in his contract. There was no clear indication that Oscar was at serious risk of losing the win, they were covering whoever needed to be covered so what was the actual problem? The best they could do was what they did, give Lando a slightly different strategy without Oscar being moved out of the way or losing pit priority.
Nobody is suggesting an on track swap, what almost everyone is saying is that the whole first on track get first pit needs to be gotten rid of, Norris is clear as day the number 1 driver and deserves to be treated as such, I.e preferential strategy calls etc.
You want both drivers happy, or at least to feel they're being treated fairly. Priority is priority, I'm not sure any other teams would change that on the fly, except Red Bull, which is probably why they won 4 drivers titles and only 2 constructors.with the fastest car. Like Lando said on the Beyond the Grid Podcast, him letting Oscar through at Hungary, in 2024, after he was allowed the undercut, cemented the foundations for enabling them win the Constructors that year and even his title in 2025. If he had refused, and we saw how Max came back, he would have lost the title, because Oscar doesn't let him back through in Monza. Don't underestimate how important team harmony is in a tight Championship.
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F1_fan
F1_fan
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Joined: 02 Jul 2023, 17:45

Re: 2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

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Honestly, this was the real World Champion Lando Norris.
He was never this confident as he has been for last few weeks. He is quick, he is sharp, he is clear on feedbacks about car and also about strategy. I am impressed more than ever before, because we all knew how fast he is, but right now he is the true leader of this team, Mr. Mcalren. I would say that without mistake on lap 1, he could have won this race by 35+ seconds. This version of Lando can go on a win streak after summer break and than everything is possible.
Also kudus to the whole team and Oscar because we should have 1-2 today, but i am sure we will get that after summer break.

Emag
Emag
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Joined: 11 Feb 2019, 14:56

Re: 2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

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I think Lando was pissed after Spa and he had good reason to be. It's probably why he is being a lot more vocal than you usually hear from him on his pace advantage. And truth be told, he actually had the pace to back his words up this time so it's not even a bad look. The guy had enough to win by 30-40 seconds easily had he not slid off in lap 1 (and don't get me wrong, that's his own fault, I am just making a point on the pace).

As for McLaren, this whole "equal treatment" thing is just flatout stupid when one of the drivers has a lot more pace on the other. It was different last year, because Lando was the weakest version of himself for some reason, but 2025 is turning out to be an outlier based on how 2026 has gone so far. They can't keep doing this. It cost them a lot with Lando at Spa and it might have cost them a win here.
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FittingMechanics
FittingMechanics
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Joined: 19 Feb 2019, 12:10

Re: 2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

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I don't expect the team to swap drivers but they should work out a plan what to do if car behind wants a differing strategy. Car ahead should not be able to dictate the strategy of car behind.

We are lucky it wasn't an issue here.

Mcl_G10
Mcl_G10
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Joined: 21 Nov 2022, 10:51

Re: 2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

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F1_fan wrote:
26 Jul 2026, 20:07
Honestly, this was the real World Champion Lando Norris.
He was never this confident as he has been for last few weeks. He is quick, he is sharp, he is clear on feedbacks about car and also about strategy. I am impressed more than ever before, because we all knew how fast he is, but right now he is the true leader of this team, Mr. Mcalren. I would say that without mistake on lap 1, he could have won this race by 35+ seconds. This version of Lando can go on a win streak after summer break and than everything is possible.
Also kudus to the whole team and Oscar because we should have 1-2 today, but i am sure we will get that after summer break.
Yes, a real focus and sharpness yet very calm about it all.
I think oscar had the edge for most of last season mentally because the pressure on lando to deliver was huge and often there seemed to be an air of desperation about norris which led to bad decisions, poor overtaking attempts etc.
But as a driver now he completely owns it and he knows he can compete with the best. You can see the believe in himself is now cemented and unwavering.

I hope he can charge on after the summer break. The first race back should be a favourable one for us.

Brahmal
Brahmal
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Re: 2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

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the EDGE wrote:
26 Jul 2026, 19:51
At the moment we’re seeing this in Lando, kimi, Lewis, where as we were seeing in Oscar, George and Charles. Doesn’t mean the latter 3 have lost it, or never had, or that their day will not come again
Lando has been superior to Oscar on low-grip tracks pretty consistently throughout. Now he's in a low-grip Formula and it shows. Not sure how easy it will be for Piastri to turn this around anytime soon.

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SilviuAgo
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Re: 2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

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Image

Lando proving a point once he got past, pumping in laps that were often a second faster than Oscar's.

Image

billamend
billamend
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Re: 2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

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bauc
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Re: 2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

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Great win by NOR, he was flying today, actually all weekend to that matter. I feel gutted for PIA, even thogh he could have won due to positional driving, he lost the place to NOR and then his gearbox failed....

On the other hand, this is the 3rd consecutive year in 2 different rules set that Mclaren have billed a race winning car. To me this is a great sing how strong the technical department is at the moment.
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mwillems
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Joined: 04 Sep 2016, 22:11

Re: 2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

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So Zak wasn't exagerating when he talked about Mclaren getting back in tbe fight.

And you can win with boring sidepods 😉🤣
I'm not taking advice from a cartoon dog

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AR3-GP
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Joined: 06 Jul 2021, 01:22

Re: 2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

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mwillems wrote:
26 Jul 2026, 22:14
And you can win with boring sidepods 😉🤣
We aren't going to let Emag live this down are we? :lol:
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Darth-Piekus
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Re: 2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

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Are we expecting more upgrades for Zandvoort considering there is a huge summer break?

Emag
Emag
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Re: 2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

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AR3-GP wrote:
26 Jul 2026, 22:18
mwillems wrote:
26 Jul 2026, 22:14
And you can win with boring sidepods 😉🤣
We aren't going to let Emag live this down are we? :lol:
Nah I'll die on this hill. This car is basic(looking) as hell :lol:
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Darth-Piekus
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Re: 2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

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I like this basic car and we can all now say All your base are belong to us. Video game veterans will understand that reference.
Last edited by Darth-Piekus on 26 Jul 2026, 22:40, edited 1 time in total.