Jacques Villeneuve suspects McLaren didn’t ‘work as hard’ as Mercedes on 2026 F1 car

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Jacques Villeneuve says F1 world champions McLaren simply aren’t on Mercedes’ ‘level’ in the chassis department this year. Lando Norris was the nearest challenger to the Silver Arrows in Sprint qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix, but the gap was still significant.

Norris, who finished over 50 seconds behind Russell in Australia last weekend, lapped over six-tenths slower than his compatriot on Friday. Oscar Piastri was a tenth further back in fifth.

One of the main storylines coming into the weekend was the tension between McLaren and Mercedes over information sharing. The Woking outfit aren’t extracting the same engine performance as the works team, and Andrea Stella has hinted that this is down to a lack of support.

Mercedes boast a 0.621s lead over McLaren atop the SQ3 timesheets after Sprint Qualifying in China

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Jacques Villeneuve says McLaren’s 2025 title bid may have cost them this year

Speaking on Sky Sports before Sprint qualifying, Villeneuve said the power unit debate was largely a sideshow. The ‘biggest difference’ between Mercedes and McLaren is the chassis.

Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes prioritised 2026 development earlier than their rivals last year, which may be part of the reason for their advantage. Toto Wolff’s team finished a distant second in the constructors’ championship behind McLaren.

But Norris and Piastri came under increasing threat from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the second half of the season, which meant McLaren couldn’t afford to commit all of their resources to honing the MCL40.

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“Last year, they focused on winning the world championship, so maybe didn’t work as hard as Mercedes on this year’s car,” Villeneuve explained.

“They got the engine late, which means they couldn’t prep it up and they’re still figuring it out. But their chassis isn’t on Mercedes’ level, and that’s where the biggest difference is.”

Toto Wolff has ‘no doubt’ that ‘formidable’ McLaren will catch Mercedes

Wolff was asked about the gap after the session and explained that, while both teams run the same power unit, there are still some areas of divergence, such as gear ratios.

The rule changes were always likely to favour the works teams at the outset, but it’s a ‘matter of time’ before McLaren gather enough information to close the gap.

McLaren are arguably the standout team on the grid in terms of personnel, and there are already signs that they have made a step since Melbourne.

“Everybody has a different concept,” Wolff told Sky. “McLaren, without going into detail, have taken some decisions that are very different to ours when it comes to, for example, the gear ratios. That could have been good or could have been bad.

“It’s a brand-new car. The works teams have the nose ahead, but it’s just a matter of time because you see what the others are doing. You have the exact same hardware, but it’s just how you simulate it best.

“I have no doubt that McLaren is just a formidable structure. It’s not long before they’re going to be part of the fight at the front.”

Elsewhere in the Mercedes engine family, Pierre Gasly qualified an impressive P7 for Alpine, ahead of Verstappen, but both Williams drivers were dumped out in SQ1.