McLaren’s ‘very high bar’ admission after early F1 2026 setback

McLaren have admitted their rivals have “set a very high bar for performance” during the first F1 2026 pre-season test.

The Woking squad pointed out the impressive start made by their competitors, notably Mercedes, in an end-of-day press release after suffering their first setback of 2026 during their second day of running at F1’s private Barcelona shakedown.

After making an encouraging start with Lando Norris first behind the wheel as the reigning world champion racked up 77 laps on Wednesday, McLaren’s second day of running was curtailed by a fuel system issue.

Oscar Piastri managed just 48 laps before his MCL40 ran into technical gremlins that kept the Australian garage-bound for the remainder of Thursday.

"Of course, it’s a shame we could not run in the afternoon as every minute of track time is precious at such an early stage of the season,” McLaren’s performance technical director Mark Temple said.

“We discovered a fuel system problem, which meant we haven’t been able to do all the running we would like. The car is very complex, so we decided to bring the car back into the garage and strip it down to fully understand where the problem is coming from, ahead of tomorrow’s running.”

Other than the technical problem that cut-short Piastri's programme, McLaren are happy with the running they have conducted. 

“We’ve got a good understanding of where the car is from a baseline point of view,” Temple added. “In this shakedown, the most important aspect for drivers is that they understand how the new car operates, how the power unit interacts, and the process of energy management.

“Overall, we haven't encountered anything too unexpected. The behaviour and handling of the car is in line with what we thought, so nothing is catching the drivers out. It’s just about learning and getting to know it, and then as we get more time, we’ll look to try and tweak or tune the car.”

McLaren enter 2026 and F1’s regulation shake-up as the defending world champions, having claimed the last two constructors’ titles, while Norris clinched his maiden drivers’ crown last year.

Mercedes’ strong pre-season test - in which the Silver Arrows have not only set the pace but also enjoyed impressive mileage and bulletproof reliability - has clearly raised eyebrows among their rivals.