McLaren’s ‘more aggressive than Mercedes’ F1 car grabs attention

McLaren’s 2026 F1 car has been described as being “more aggressive” than Mercedes after the MCL40 broke cover publicly for the first time.

After sitting out the first two days of F1’s behind closed doors test at Barcelona, McLaren finally rolled out their 2026 challenger on Wednesday in the hands of new world champion Lando Norris.

The design of the reigning world champions’ MCL40 had been much anticipated and immediately caught the eye of Sky Sports F1 pitlane reporter Ted Kravitz, who was impressed with what he saw.

“The first thing that strikes me is that this is a very, very detailed front wing,” Kravitz told Sky Sports F1’s Barcelona Shakedown show.

“Not only have you got the horizontal guide vanes just in front of the front wheels going down towards, almost deflecting air underneath the front tyre, it looks like. Look at the angle of those front-wing endplates…

“This car looks more aggressive, certainly than the Ferrari, Ferrari are going to put an upgrade package on for Melbourne, and actually a bit more aggressive in some areas than the Mercedes.

“I think this is on par with Red Bull. I’m interested in that bargeboard, just underneath where it says DP World and it’s got the little Papaya chevron… it doesn’t look as detailed as Red Bull and maybe not as the Mercedes as well. So maybe there’s a bit more as well.

“The floor looks good, the sidepod down to the back looks good. So this looks as aggressive as the Red Bull, and maybe a little bit more than the Mercedes and the Ferrari.”

Norris clocked 77 laps and set the third-fastest time behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell in what was an incredibly smooth start to pre-season testing for McLaren following their late arrival. 

“Our first day of track here in Barcelona was very productive with the MCL40 running well," McLaren's chief designer Rob Marshall said. 

"Our main focus was shaking down the car, getting as much information as we could from it, and giving us the opportunity to get a better understanding of how it runs, as the new regulations present us with an entirely new car.   

“From a design perspective, the new regulations have been a massive task, so it was a great moment to see it roll out of the garage for the first time. 

"We’ve been able to get a more holistic understanding of the car’s systems, and seen how components interact in a trackside condition, as well as getting important driver feedback, now that Lando has physically driven the car. 

"This foundational knowledge will help us when we come to Bahrain, where we’ll focus more on dialling the car in. Overall, it’s been a good day, and we look forward to seeing Oscar in the car tomorrow.”