Gary Anderson tips McLaren rivals to look at one ‘exciting’ part on Oscar Piastri’s 2026 F1 car

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Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have penned their first laps in McLaren’s new car built to the 2026 F1 regulations over the final three days of the Barcelona shakedown test.

Norris took the MCL40 out for its maiden spin on Wednesday, after McLaren elected to skip the first two days of track action at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Piastri took over the car on Thursday, before the pair shared the driving duties as the event concluded on Friday.

A fuel system problem limited Piastri’s time at the wheel on Thursday, but he and Norris got plenty of laps under their belts on Friday. It was more important for McLaren to rack up the miles than to chase lots of headline lap times at the first test of the 2026 F1 regulations era.

Who will be McLaren’s top driver in 2026 – Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri? 🤔

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Gary Anderson spots ‘exciting’ turning vanes under the nose of McLaren’s 2026 F1 car

The bargeboards on McLaren’s 2026 F1 car immediately caught the eye in Barcelona, as the Woking natives finally revealed their elaborate design after teasing basic renders when they revealed a black livery for testing. McLaren will not show their actual livery until February 9.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about F1’s 2026 engine and aero regulations

Former Jordan F1 technical director Gary Anderson believes McLaren also have an “exciting” feature underneath the nose cone on Norris and Piastri’s new 2026 car. He has noticed their use of several turning vanes, which he suspects their rival F1 teams will now try to recreate.

Anderson has told The Race: “It is under the nose where it all gets a bit more exciting and different. McLaren have these vanes coming down from that surface. I will christen them ‘snowplough’ vanes. All of them look like they have a slightly different profile.

“If they are V-shaped where they attach to the nose surface, they could be spilling airflow outwards prior to it getting turned outwards by the V-shape connection between the floor and the underneath of the chassis further rearward.

“The lower outer corner could also be to generate vortices, which could reenergise the airflow that actually goes underneath the leading edge of the underfloor. Whatever they do, I’m pretty sure that a few other teams will be looking closely at it very soon in CFD.”

When is the next 2026 F1 pre-season test in Bahrain?

Formula 1 teams will now be hard at work studying all of the data they registered over their permitted three days of on-track running at the Barcelona shakedown test. And as Anderson notes, the teams will also look to recreate what their rivals revealed in Montmelo this week.

The turning vanes underneath McLaren’s nose cone and Aston Martin’s aggressive sidepods on their 2026 F1 car will likely be among the major focuses for their rivals ahead of the next pre-season test. Formula 1 will travel to Bahrain for two tests on February 11-13 and 18-20.

Norris and Piastri will hope McLaren’s car ultimately emerges as one of the fastest when the season starts in Australia on March 6-8. Norris will bid to retain the drivers’ championship in the first year of the new ruleset, and Piastri will want revenge after blowing his bid in 2025.