McLaren has not yet been able to fully exploit the potential of the power unit supplied by Mercedes, according to analysis by Formula 1 experts. Despite having the same hardware and software used by the German factory team, the Woking team faces difficulties in optimizing the performance of the engine and the car as a whole.
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F1 TV commentator Alex Jacques explained the situation: “They have a problem with both aspects of the car. The chassis is not as fast as, for example, Ferrari’s in the corners, and they don’t fully understand their power unit. They only received the Mercedes engine specification, they didn’t have it in testing and only got it in Melbourne. Understanding this and how to use it efficiently is a huge part of the game. And they are just at the beginning of that journey,” he stated.
Jolyon Palmer, former F1 driver and current commentator, reinforced that the challenge goes beyond McLaren: “It’s interesting. I spoke with Alpine, which also uses the Mercedes engine, and I realized there are adaptation difficulties. Despite having the same engine, there are initial problems. They are still trying to understand how to use the engine in the most efficient way. McLaren, which had been outperforming Mercedes in recent years, can no longer do that. And this doesn’t just hurt McLaren, but also Williams and Alpine, who can’t use the best power unit in the ideal way,” he said, referring to the other Mercedes customer teams.
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This analysis points out that, although customer teams have access to the same Mercedes technology, the manufacturer team’s experience and specific knowledge about power unit management still give a competitive advantage to the Brackley team, which started the 2026 season with dominant victories in Australia and China.
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