McLaren’s gearbox might set Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris apart from both Mercedes drivers

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McLaren might be a Mercedes customer team, but that hasn’t stopped them getting the better of Toto Wolff’s outfit in recent years.

Lando Norris is the reigning world champion, and McLaren have won back-to-back constructors’ titles going into the 2026 season.

However, with every regulation change, there’s a belief that works teams like Mercedes, Ferrari, and now Red Bull should have an advantage over their customers.

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McLaren were using a lower spec engine in testing and had far less time than Mercedes to understand the intricacies of the new power unit.

The likes of Rob Marshall and Peter Prodromou have masterminded the design of McLaren’s championship-winning cars in recent years, and the early signs suggest that they’ve overseen another class-leading car that could catch Mercedes off guard.

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

McLaren could have the best gearbox on the 2026 grid despite Mercedes being F1’s benchmark team

Many people believe that Mercedes are the favourites this season, with George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli potentially about to fight for their first championship.

TalkingPoints users believe Lewis Hamilton is the favourite, but McLaren could sneak up on a lot of people based on their testing performances.

Journalists Tim Hauraney and Nelson Valkenburg were speaking on the Nailing the Apex Podcast about McLaren.

Hauraney said: “Standing trackside, the chassis itself looks really good. It looks really, really good.

“I would say their aerodynamic package looks better than Mercedes. Watching both Norris and Piastri when they finally started to get a setup on the car that actually suited the way they wanted the car to handle.”

McLaren top the mileage charts after Bahrain testing 🏎️

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Valkenburg replied: “I think the gearbox, once they fully understand this powertrain, I think this gearbox will set them apart and maybe in front of the Mercedes.

“If you look at starting procedures, but also the way they downshift, that gearbox can take a lot.

“I just have this simmering feeling that they weren’t really thinking about lap time similar to Mercedes, but it just looks so sorted already that I feel that they are in the top spot.”

READ MORE: All you need to know about Mercedes F1 Team from team principal to lineage

F1 paddock sources believe McLaren’s car is ‘a bit overweight’ heading into the Australian Grand Prix

One of the biggest issues that many teams have faced this winter is reaching the minimum weight limit.

The FIA have reduced the minimum weight by 30kg to 768kg, and the belief is that Williams could have the most overweight car.

Journalist Julianne Cerasoli was also on the Nailing the Apex Podcast, and she explained when speaking about McLaren: “What I heard many times over the last week is that they are a bit overweight.

“So, once the weight comes off, you’re going to see the lap time that we didn’t see in testing, but the car looked really good. The front of the car looks as good as last year’s.”

McLaren will be aiming to get below the minimum weight so that they’re in the luxurious position of being able to add ballast to the car.

They’re more than likely to get down to the 768kg sooner rather than later, but during the early stages of the season, that could be the difference between pole position and the second row in qualifying.