McLaren keep powder dry as rivals hit the track

Jan.23 (GMM) While Mercedes has now completed a full 200-kilometre shakedown at Silverstone and is widely viewed as the early favourite, reigning world champions McLaren are taking a notably different approach to the start of the 2026 season.

McLaren is yet to unveil its new car, has not completed a filming day or shakedown, and will not rush onto the track when group testing begins in Barcelona next week. Under the regulations, each team may run on only three of the five scheduled test days, and McLaren has chosen to delay its running until later in the week.

“The whole program is going according to plan,” insisted team principal Andrea Stella. “We’re obviously very happy about that.”

Stella confirmed that the new McLaren is currently in Austria at AVL, undergoing dyno and systems testing, and will likely appear on track only on the second or third day in Barcelona. “You’re only allowed to test for three days anyway,” he explained.

“So we simply start our three days a little later. That was always our Plan A.”

Unlike teams such as Audi, Cadillac, Racing Bulls and Alpine, which have already logged early laps, McLaren deliberately skipped an early rollout. According to Stella, the scale of the 2026 regulation changes made track-first bragging rights irrelevant.

“Every extra day we can spend on development and design gives us a small increase in performance,” he said. “If you go early, you gain knowledge earlier, but you also have to freeze the design very early. It’s a compromise.”

Crucially, McLaren does not plan separate ‘A’ and ‘B’ versions of its car. The specification seen in testing will be close to what races in Melbourne. Technical director Rob Marshall underlined the philosophy: “What fans see in Spain and Bahrain, almost all of that will be on the track in Australia.

“First we need to understand the platform. Adding lots of evolutions too early would be a big mistake,” he added.

The strategy may also reflect budget-cap realities. By avoiding parts that would only be used briefly in early testing, McLaren believes it can preserve resources for upgrades later in the season.

Around the paddock, approaches vary. Red Bull plans to run from day 1 in Barcelona, despite skipping a filming day, while Ferrari will wait until January 27. Williams, meanwhile, has yet to show its car at all amid rumours of crash-test delays, though the team has made no comment.

Meanwhile, the FIA has apparently granted teams permission to use conventional fuel during testing due to reliability concerns. The full 2026 fuel regulations will only be enforced from the opening race in Melbourne.

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