McLaren chief downplays 2026 expectations despite recent dominance

Despite McLaren's commanding back-to-back championship victories in 2024 and 2025, Team Principal Andrea Stella is adamant that the team cannot be labeled as the favorite for the 2026 season. He attributes this uncertainty to the unprecedented scale of the upcoming technical reset, which will introduce new chassis, power unit, and tire regulations simultaneously, effectively resetting the competitive order.

Why it matters:

Stella's caution highlights the seismic shift the 2026 regulations represent. A team's current performance is no longer a reliable predictor of future success, making the upcoming development race more critical and unpredictable than any in recent F1 history. This levels the playing field and opens the door for a potential reshuffle at the front of the grid.

The details:

• McLaren dominated the 2025 season, securing the Constructors' title with nearly double the points of second-placed Mercedes and the Drivers' Championship with Lando Norris.
• Stella explicitly states that this dominance does not translate to 2026, calling it "the first time in history" that chassis, power unit, and tires are all new at once, leaving teams with "no reference points."
• The team is focusing intensely on maintaining a steep development trajectory internally, acknowledging they have no visibility on their rivals' progress.
• A potential challenge identified is McLaren's reduced allocation of wind tunnel time for 2026, a consequence of their championship success, which could hinder their ability to refine the new car as quickly as needed in a development-critical season.

What's next:

The 2026 season is poised to become a protracted development war from the very first race. Stella emphasizes that the initial competitive order will be less important than each team's capacity to improve their package throughout the year and beyond. McLaren's goal is to ensure their technical development curve remains as aggressive as possible to navigate the reset successfully.