After missing out on substantial mileage during Formula 1‘s Barcelona private shakedown, McLaren admits to being behind its rivals for 2026.
The Woking-based squad heads into the latest era of the sport off the back of two consecutive Constructors’ titles.
After starting the ground effects era on the back foot, McLaren clawed back performance through the 2023 season, eventually leading the pack from mid-way 2024 onwards.
With the 2026 technical overhaul taking shape, it would appear that the iconic British team might be slated to play catch up once again.
McLaren opted to sit out the first two days of the pre-season private shakedown at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, only debuting the MCL40 on Wednesday.
And while reigning Drivers’ Champion Lando Norris got a decent haul of mileage under his belt with 77 laps clocked in during both, the morning and afternoon session, things went sideways for McLaren on Day 2.
Thursday was Oscar Piastri’s turn to jump into the MCL40 for a full days’ running.
However, after completing only 48 laps during the morning session, the Australian was forced to sit out the entirety of the afternoon’s running owing to a suspected fuel systems issue.
McLaren Technical Director of Performance Mark Temple wrote this off as a precautionary measure, but admitted to having been taken by the “very high bar” set by its rivals.
More ‘learning and getting to know’ MCL40 for McLaren ahead of Bahrain testing
In fact, its engine supplier Mercedes was the talk of the town for the five days in Spain.
Not only did the German marque rack up a staggering 1,000+ laps of mileage in total on its power unit, the works team posted the second-fastest overall lap of the test with George Russell behind the wheel of the W17.
What would bother McLaren, however, is the fact that it has lost crucial track time to understand its package, and the various new ‘toys’ the 2026 cars have to eke out crucial tenths in races.
“Overall, we haven’t encountered anything too unexpected. The behaviour and handling of the car is in line with what we thought, so nothing is catching the drivers out,” Temple explained.
“It’s just about learning and getting to know it, and then as we get more time, we’ll look to try and tweak or tune the car.”
After three days of track running, McLaren clocked in a total of 290 laps, bettering only the likes of new-comers Audi and Cadillac, and Aston Martin.
READ MORE – Lando Norris reveals difficulty of ‘accepting’ F1 title dream ‘a reality’
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