McLaren may rely on Mercedes engines, but that hasn’t stopped them from outpacing the Silver Arrows over the past few years.
Lando Norris is the defending world champion, and McLaren are coming off back-to-back constructors’ titles as they head into the 2026 season.
But with each new set of regulations, there’s often talk that works teams like Mercedes, Ferrari, and now Red Bull should have a leg up over their customer teams.
Meanwhile, McLaren were running a lower-spec engine during testing and had far less time than Mercedes to get to grips with the new power unit.
Rob Marshall and Peter Prodromou have been behind the design of McLaren’s title-winning cars in recent years. Early signs from this season suggest they’ve put together another top contender that could take Mercedes by surprise again.
McLaren’s 2026 gearbox draws early praise amid Mercedes expectations
There’s a lot of talk around the paddock that Mercedes are the team to beat this year, with both George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli seen as legitimate title contenders.
But while plenty of fans are backing Lewis Hamilton to take it, McLaren’s strong testing form hasn’t gone unnoticed, and there are some who think they could spring a surprise.
The discussion came up during an episode of Nailing the Apex, where Tim Hauraney and Nelson Valkenburg shared their thoughts on what they’ve seen so far from McLaren. Hauraney said: “Standing trackside, the chassis itself looks really good. It looks really, really good.”
“I would say their aerodynamic package looks better than Mercedes. Watching both Norris and Piastri when they finally started to get a setup on the car that actually suited the way they wanted the car to handle.”
Valkenburg replied: “I think the gearbox, once they fully understand this powertrain, I think this gearbox will set them apart and maybe in front of the Mercedes.
“If you look at starting procedures, but also the way they downshift, that gearbox can take a lot.”
Growing concerns McLaren’s car might be carrying extra weight
Many teams have struggled this winter to meet the new minimum weight limit.
The FIA has dropped the minimum weight by 30kg to 768kg, and there are suggestions that Williams might have one of the heavier cars on the grid.
On the Nailing the Apex Podcast, journalist Julianne Cerasoli spoke about McLaren’s situation: “What I heard many times over the last week is that they are a bit overweight.
“So, once the weight comes off, you’re going to see the lap time that we didn’t see in testing, but the car looked really good. The front of the car looks as good as last year’s.”
McLaren will be aiming to get below the minimum weight so that they’re in a position to add ballast where needed.
They should reach 768kg soon enough, but early in the season, any extra weight could be what separates pole position from a spot further down on row two.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
