Formula 1 paddock now believes McLaren are behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull heading into 2026

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McLaren come into the 2026 Formula 1 season as the defending drivers’ champions and two-time defending constructors’ champions, but the paddock thinks they are falling behind.

The Woking outfit will be looking to continue their dominance this season after winning 14 races in 2025. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri should be in a good position to do that, given that Mercedes are believed to have the fastest power unit.

However, the 2026 F1 regulations throw up a huge challenge for all the teams to build a competitive package. Norris thinks McLaren can improve in multiple areas despite winning both championships in 2025.

McLaren top the mileage charts after Bahrain testing 🏎️

But do any of these totals change your expectations for the season? 🤔

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After pre-season testing, it is clear that the team have work to do. Ruth Buscombe saw Piastri suffer with tyre degradation during his race simulation in Bahrain.

Furthermore, McLaren did not have Mercedes’ ‘latest spec’ engine in Bahrain, and the team therefore expect a slight ‘performance bump’ at the Australian Grand Prix.

F1 paddock agrees that McLaren are the ‘fourth-best team’ heading into 2026

Team principal Andrea Stella admitted McLaren are the fourth-best team in the rankings in Bahrain. The caveat was that he did not know where Max Verstappen stood with Red Bull, but he was sure that Mercedes and Ferrari were ahead of McLaren.

Mercedes and Ferrari impressed with their power units during the practice starts, while Red Bull’s have caught everyone’s attention with their progress with their in-house engine. According to journalist Ian Parkes, the F1 paddock agrees that McLaren are now fourth in the pecking order.

Doubts are rising at McLaren and Red Bull about pace, but who’s really the weak link in the big four?

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Discussing his predictions for the Australian GP, he told RacingNews365: “We’ve not talked about McLaren at all this podcast, which is quite staggering when you think about it.

“But that’s the position that McLaren seems to find itself in as the fourth-best team, as it stands. And pretty much that was the agreement up and down the paddock as well, that that seemed to be the case that McLaren is not quite as good as Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull.”

READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

Rob Marshall felt McLaren’s Bahrain test went ‘remarkably smoothly’

Of course, that is not to say that McLaren will not be competitive against their rivals. Despite this claim from the paddock and from Stella, the team are still confident about their chances.

Journalist Tom Clarkson spoke to chief designer Rob Marshall in Bahrain, and he felt that everything went swimmingly for the Woking outfit during testing.

Clarkson said via F1 Nation: “There was an underlying confidence to all the main players at McLaren at their launch just before the start of the first Bahrain test, while you were sunning yourself, JP.

“But I really felt that was a confident team, and then I caught up with Rob Marshall, their chief designer, during Bahrain two, and he was saying it had actually gone remarkably smoothly.

“And [he] still had that confidence that he’d had 10 days earlier. So I agree with you. I think McLaren are going to be definitely there or thereabouts.”