'Be a grown-up': Steiner tells McLaren to build own F1 engine amid Mercedes struggles

McLaren's 2026 title defense has collapsed, and former Haas boss Guenther Steiner says the team must stop blaming Mercedes and build its own engine. After winning back-to-back Constructors' crowns in 2024 and 2025—and Lando Norris claiming McLaren's first Drivers' title since Lewis Hamilton in 2008—the Woking squad has gone winless this season while Mercedes has taken seven wins from nine races.

Why it matters:

McLaren trails Mercedes by 154 points, exposing the hard limits of life as a customer team. As the only top-four outfit without its own power unit, they face a structural disadvantage that Steiner believes demands full independence. His intervention forces McLaren to confront an uncomfortable question: can a championship-caliber team afford to rely on a supplier that is also its fiercest rival?

The details:

• On The Red Flags podcast, Steiner said McLaren should "be a grown-up" and build its own engine rather than citing power unit issues whenever performance drops, referencing the team's previous struggles with Honda and Renault.
• Andrea Stella opened the season frustrated by limited information from Mercedes High Performance Powertrains, and recently admitted McLaren remains "a bit on the back foot" despite an "excellent" working relationship.
• McLaren's Mercedes agreement runs until at least 2030, but Steiner is confident CEO Zak Brown can secure funding. He pointed to Red Bull's Ford partnership and Audi's factory entry as proof that new manufacturers can thrive in modern F1.
• Steiner conceded the project would be "expensive and difficult," but argued that if McLaren remains unhappy, developing the power unit internally is the only real solution.

What's next:

With a binding contract through at least 2030, McLaren cannot pivot overnight. The immediate priority must be fixing integration issues with the current Mercedes package. However, Steiner's comments may force Zak Brown to consider whether the team's long-term future lies in becoming a full manufacturer—or accepting permanent customer status.