McLaren faces ‘harsh reality’ at 2026 F1 testing as 2025 tyre ‘advantage’ eludes them

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McLaren appear to have lost one of their biggest advantages that helped Lando Norris win the 2025 F1 title, judging by their rear tyre management at the 2026 Bahrain test.

The Woking crew’s rear tyre management was often the class of the field across the 2025 F1 season, especially in hot conditions. Norris and Oscar Piastri often kept their rear tyres in far better condition than their rivals, which allowed them to race more strategically last season.

Red Bull regularly complained to the FIA about McLaren’s 2025 car, as they were suspicious about how strong their rival’s tyre management was. The FIA repeatedly checked McLaren’s 2025 car throughout the early stage of the campaign, as well, but it found no wrongdoings.

But it seems that McLaren have not replicated their tyre management advantage with their 2026 F1 regulations car. F1 cars are now 200mm shorter and 100mm narrower, while Pirelli has developed front tyres that are 25mm narrower and rear tyres that are 30mm narrower.

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McLaren face a ‘harsh reality’ about their rear tyre management at the 2026 F1 Bahrain test

The second official 2026 pre-season test in Bahrain this week has even now forced McLaren to face a ‘harsh reality’ regarding their rear tyre management. That is according to AS-WEB, which claims that the MCL40 has yet to show the same ‘advantage’ that the MCL39 offered.

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McLaren’s 2026 F1 regulations car has shown some promising signs in terms of pure speed in Bahrain. Yet Norris and Piastri have struggled to conserve their tyres as well as their rival F1 drivers have been able to, potentially including Red Bull rival Max Verstappen this week.

Ruth Buscombe believes Verstappen would beat Piastri in a race based on their Bahrain test data, having seen the McLaren star “suffering” with a lot of tyre degradation during his race simulation on Thursday. Piastri’s high rate of wear on the C1 tyres was especially surprising.

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Norris is fully aware that McLaren’s 2026 car is not as strong as their car that helped him win the 2025 F1 drivers’ championship and retain the constructors’ title. The 26-year-old thinks McLaren need to improve in “most areas”, which has hurt their tyre management in testing.

“It’s a bit off,” Norris said, via quotes by AS-WEB. “We have to push a bit more to match the race pace of the other drivers, which will cause more degradation. So, it’s not a complete carryover [of last year’s race pace], but I think there’s some.

“I’m confident that the things that were our strengths last year will continue to be our strengths this season. The team are working hard on everything, including race pace [and] tyre cooling. But for now, we need to improve in most areas.”

Tyre management indeed does not seem to be McLaren’s only issue, as Piastri has struggled with car control during testing in Bahrain. The 24-year-old has often been wrestling with his steering wheel throughout his time on track, with the rear-end largely getting out of shape.