When will McLaren’s F1 2026 car finally hit the track?

McLaren intend to run their MCL40 challenger on the final three days of the first F1 2026 pre-season test in Barcelona, Crash.net has learned.

The reigning F1 world champions confirmed last week that their new car would not be ready to run on the first day of the five-day behind closed doors shakedown at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella explained this was always the plan in order to give themselves as much time as possible to design their 2026 challenger and maximise performance.

Stella hinted that McLaren would start their testing programme on either day two or day three, but there was no sign of the MCL40 on Tuesday.

Crash.net has received confirmation that McLaren won’t be running their new car on Tuesday and instead are aiming to participate in the final three days of the shakedown.

F1 teams are permitted to conduct running with their new cars on any three days of their choosing throughout this week.

With changeable weather around Barcelona on Tuesday, McLaren have decided against using up one of their test days.

McLaren have been using their time at the circuit to carry out tasks like static tests in the garage.

Ferrari, who joined the test for the second day of running, and Red Bull are the only two teams in action on Tuesday.

Aston Martin are set to join the test late on Thursday, while Williams are missing the entire week due to failing to get their car ready in time. 

McLaren finally released images of their 2026 car sporting a special stealth test livery on Monday, ahead of the MCL40’s track debut.

The Woking squad will reveal their actual 2026 livery at a season launch event on 9 February in Bahrain.