McLaren are ‘grumbling’ about how engine suppliers Mercedes are treating them at the British GP

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McLaren are ‘privately’ questioning how Mercedes are treating them as they wait to receive the latest specification from their engine suppliers.

It emerged on Friday that, unlike fellow customers Alpine and Williams, McLaren have not yet been given access to fresh power units.

According to The Race, Mercedes have told the reigning world champions that their current components are too early in their life cycle to merit a change.

Name the biggest winner and biggest loser from Saturday’s qualifying session at the British GP 👇

Kimi Antonelli claimed his fifth pole position of the season at Silverstone!

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How McLaren feel about using older Mercedes engine specification at Silverstone

The latest engine specification isn’t necessarily faster, but it is more reliable, which may mean it can be run more aggressively (equating to higher top speeds in real terms). There are naturally benefits to fresher components, too.

As Andrew Benson noted during BBC Radio 5 Live’s coverage of qualifying (4/7, 16:51), McLaren haven’t complained on the record. But off it, they have indicated that they feel aggrieved.

Benson said: “Publicly, they’re being polite, but they’ve not got the latest spec Mercedes engine in here, which all the other teams have. Publicly, they’re not complaining about it. Privately, they are grumbling a little bit.

“It’s all to do with timing, scheduling and mileage. One of the reasons they’re down on mileage is because the Mercedes engine keeps failing on them.

Should McLaren start building their own engines like Red Bull?

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“They’re like, ‘Why should we suffer from that?’. That’s not a quote, that’s just a feeling I’m getting by osmosis, if you like.”

It’s not the first time this year there have been signs of tension between the longtime partners. At the start of the season, the narrative was that Mercedes weren’t giving McLaren all the information they needed to optimise the power unit.

The rules mandate that manufacturers provide equal software and hardware, but each driver also has a limited allocation of power unit elements for the season.

“Mercedes, I don’t think, have been feeling that they want to divulge too much to their competitors,” 1996 world champion Damon Hill added.

“Don’t forget, it’s McLaren who won the constructors’ championship, so a little bit embarrassing if you’re the works Mercedes team to be beaten by your customers.

“I think they’re probably taking a little bit more of a cautious [approach], ‘well, you’ve got the power unit, but the way you work it, we’ll let you work that out for yourself.'”

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri qualified a disappointing sixth and eighth for the British Grand Prix, with Norris three-quarters of a second down on Kimi Antonelli’s pole time.