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David Coulthard has admitted he was taken aback by how McLaren pointed the finger at Mercedes for their struggles with the 2026 power unit.
The Silver Arrows have had the perfect start to the new era, winning every race in 2026 thus far. Mercedes have built a strong power unit that is dominating the field, but the defending champions have been struggling to understand it.
McLaren had trouble in the first two rounds, with the team not even making it to the grid in China. There was tension between McLaren and Mercedes, much to Coulthard’s surprise, as the former felt the latter had withheld information about the engine.
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Bradley Lord admits Mercedes ‘contributed’ to McLaren’s problems, but the Woking outfit now seem to have turned a corner. In Japan, Oscar Piastri grabbed the team’s first podium with P2 and was unlucky not to win with the timing of the safety car.
McLaren leaders said they ‘90%’ understood Mercedes’ engine after Suzuka, and following a month’s break before Miami, they could be in a position to make a real challenge for a race win.
David Coulthard surprised by McLaren pinning the blame on Mercedes for 2026 power unit issues
Discussing McLaren on the Up To Speed podcast, Coulthard thinks the team have made a step forward, but admits that he was surprised by their blame game with Mercedes.
He said: “Look, it felt, especially McLaren in Japan, it felt like they’d taken a step forward and it wouldn’t take much for them, in terms of better understanding of how to use their power unit. That was something they were very vocal [about] at the beginning of the year.
“Actually, I was surprised how sort of pointing the finger at Mercedes that they were, because given they’ve had a working relationship the last couple of years, they won the world championship, of course, using the Mercedes engine.
“They were very clearly saying, ‘We haven’t been given all of the operational manual for this new power unit’, and as the Grand Prix have unfolded, they’ve started to understand more about that on their own.
“So it feels that they’re now coming to Miami as, let’s say, where they would have wanted to have been in Australia.”
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Naomi Schiff thinks McLaren are in a better position to challenge Mercedes than Ferrari
Naomi Schiff added that McLaren will be in a better place than Ferrari in Miami. While the chassis is strong, the power unit is lacking in comparison to the Mercedes.
“If you look back at Japan, McLaren seemed to already be making real strides in terms of their performance. That performance that they were able to finally understand and work on with their car in terms of the engine was clearly coming together,” she said.
“And we’ve also historically seen so many times that McLaren are one of the teams that do have great correlation between their simulators and on track. So if we’re expecting a host of upgrades in Miami, then I would say that McLaren are in a good position to bring the competition to Mercedes.
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“But the reason I say that I still think it’s McLaren more so than Ferrari is that Ferrari’s major concern this season so far has been their power unit. They seem to have a sort of 20-horsepower deficit to Mercedes, and I believe that they are waiting for the ADUO.
“So if there is any respite for them, it’s probably coming after Miami because it seems like their chassis seems to be pretty good and actually one of the quickest out there in terms of corner speed. So for those reasons alone, I would say more likely to be McLaren to take the fight to Mercedes in Miami.”
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