McLaren acknowledged that adapting to the new power unit regulations strongly marked the first part of the 2026 Formula 1 season. According to the team’s technical director, Mark Temple, the changes in the engines were the main challenge for the team in the first half of the championship.
Read more F1: Stella explains concept change that favored McLaren at the Hungarian GP
After winning the drivers’ and constructors’ titles in 2025, the team ceased to be the reference on the grid this year, spending much of the season in third place in the pecking order. Despite this, McLaren believes that its development strategy is starting to yield results, even with slower progress than the main competitors.
Temple explained that the team chose to introduce fewer updates throughout the year, prioritizing parts that offered proven performance gains. Meanwhile, competitors followed a more aggressive approach in evolving their cars.
With each new update package, McLaren reduced the gap to Mercedes. This progress was highlighted by Lando Norris’s victory at the Hungarian GP, held before the current mid-season break. Still, reliability issues hampered the team’s campaign, most of which were related to the power unit supplied by Mercedes. As a result, Norris now faces a difficult mission to defend the drivers’ title.
Read more F1: Bearman says Hamilton’s reaction complicates his dream at Ferrari
Temple stated that the team already expected a more complex season due to the technical changes but acknowledged that some obstacles exceeded initial predictions: “When we entered the season, we knew everything would be much more complex because many things had changed. The power unit, obviously, was the one that generated the biggest headlines,” he said.
The technical director added that McLaren also had to adapt its internal processes to deal with the new scenario: “We knew this would be difficult to manage, but also that there would be a great performance opportunity. At the same time, some things proved more challenging than we expected, and it took us longer to get our processes, the way we prepare each step, to the level we wanted. In fact, there is still a lot of work to be done in this regard,” Temple concluded.
Read more F1: Verstappen was the key to Zandvoort’s return, says Ecclestone
