McLaren staff feeling ‘a little bit gutted’ at the factory for one reason ahead of the 2026 F1 season

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McLaren go into the 2026 Formula 1 season as reigning drivers’ and constructors’ champions, but retaining both titles isn’t going to be easy.

Lando Norris has already debuted the number one on his car during the Barcelona shakedown after his brilliant comeback at the end of last season.

His teammate, Oscar Piastri, is entering his fourth campaign as a McLaren driver and will want to make sure that if he finds himself leading the world championship once again, he doesn’t give away that advantage like last season.

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

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Martin Brundle has told Piastri what he must fix heading into 2026, but the new regulation changes are much more likely to determine whether the Australian driver and his teammate are in title contention rather than their individual ability.

McLaren proved during the last ruleset that they’re more than capable of making big strides forward year on year.

Journalist Mark Hughes recently visited the McLaren factory in Woking, and has shared why some of their staff might be ‘a little bit gutted’ heading into 2026 after such a successful campaign last year.

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

McLaren staff might be feeling ‘a little bit gutted’ over F1 rule change after 2025 success

Hughes was asked on the Motor Sport Magazine Podcast what the mood is like within the McLaren factory right now and said: “I think they are a very able and sophisticated team these days.

“I think they’re very confident in their abilities and their facilities, and they’re being managed in a brilliant way by a very able Andrea Stella, who not only understands the engineering challenge quite deeply but is also very good in his interface with the people around them.

“It’s quite a rare combination and not many of those that are so good at both of those things, and he’s a natural leader.

George Russell topped the lap count at the Barcelona Shakedown 🔥

But is mileage everything at this stage? 🤔

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“So I think he’s imbued that place with his sort of calm, and I don’t think there’s any sense of panic.

“But I would imagine that having spent the last three, four years really making such spectacular progress from where they’d been and really nailing these previous regulations and overhauling Red Bull and pulling away from Red Bull, I would think they’re probably a little bit gutted that the new regulations came just when they did.

“They were really harvesting the fruits of the better understanding of the previous rig.”

READ MORE: Andrea Stella shares the ‘turning point’ that made Lando Norris realise he could beat Max Verstappen

How McLaren’s 2026 Formula 1 car performed at the Barcelona shakedown

McLaren were one of nine teams to complete three days of testing in Barcelona last week, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.

Andrea Stella’s team took to the track for the first time on Wednesday morning and completed 74 laps that day.

Piastri experienced a fuel system issue on Thursday, limiting McLaren to 48 laps that day, although their running on Friday was much more successful, completing 163 laps.

Six teams completed more laps than McLaren in Barcelona, although they will be encouraged by the amount of running that Mercedes and Alpine did with the same power unit that appeared to be relatively stress-free.

Gary Anderson spotted one ‘exciting’ part on McLaren’s car and has even suggested that other teams should be looking at the MCL40.

McLaren’s staff will hope that they can pick up where they left off last season, and even though the mood is relatively positive at the factory, they will know that the timing of F1’s regulation changes couldn’t have been worse.