McLaren's disastrous 2026 start continues with double China DNS

McLaren's 2026 Formula 1 season has begun with a historic reliability crisis, with neither Lando Norris nor Oscar Piastri starting the Chinese Grand Prix due to separate battery-related power unit failures. The double failure marks the team's worst start to a season in decades and puts immense pressure on engine supplier Mercedes to deliver immediate fixes.

Why it matters:

A complete failure to start a race with both cars is an exceptionally rare event in modern F1, highlighting a critical vulnerability in McLaren's championship defense. For Piastri, it extends a brutal start to his title defense with zero racing laps completed in 2026 so far, while the team's points deficit to rivals grows with each missed opportunity.

The details:

• The Shanghai weekend was a total write-off for McLaren. Norris's car suffered a terminal battery failure in the garage before the race, while Piastri's car had a fault in an auxiliary component attached to the battery.
• Team Principal Andrea Stella confirmed both failures were on "the electrical side of the power unit" and originated with their Mercedes (HPP) supplied components, though they were different specific faults.
• The team attempted a garage fix on Norris's car by swapping the Electronic Control Unit (ECU), but the battery was permanently damaged. Piastri's battery unit was salvageable.
• This double Did Not Start (DNS) is statistically shocking. It's the first time neither McLaren has started a Grand Prix since the 2005 US GP at Indianapolis (a Michelin tire boycott), and before that, you must go back to the team's struggling 1966 maiden season for a reliability-related double DNS.

The big picture:

The 2026 season is unraveling for the reigning champions. Beyond China, Piastri also failed to start in Australia after a spin on the laps to the grid. This compounds the pressure on Mercedes HPP, which Stella says he "trusts 100%" to implement remedies. The team's historical reference to 1966—when Bruce McLaren used an underpowered and unreliable Serenissima V12—is a stark, if ironic, reminder of how foundational a strong power unit partnership is to success.

What's next:

All focus shifts to Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix, where McLaren desperately needs a clean weekend. Stella emphasized that HPP's high standards should lead to effective countermeasures and expressed hope for a "regular weekend." The primary goal is simply to get Piastri, the reigning world champion, his first racing laps of the season and stop the points hemorrhage. The team's performance in practice sessions will be scrutinized for any lingering power unit gremlins.