Lando Norris
McLaren
Mercedes
Red Bull
Ferrari
Williams
Racing Bulls
Aston Martin
Haas
Alpine
McLaren unveiled the MCL40 on Monday ahead of their first run of the Barcelona shakedown test to kick off the 2026 season.
The defending champions revealed a camouflage livery for the test, as well as all the fine details of their 2026 challenger. Fans are in awe of McLaren’s test livery, and they have to wait until February 9 to see the real design.
McLaren opted not to run on the first day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya. Ferrari took the same decision, while Aston Martin are delayed until Thursday and Williams are not turning up at all.
Prove us wrong: McLaren have the BEST driver line-up on the 2026 grid
For Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, they will be looking to get as much mileage in the car as possible and gather crucial data ahead of their title defence. But their decision to start testing later than their rivals could cost them.
Rain is forecast later in the week, which could scupper McLaren and Ferrari’s efforts to set meaningful lap times. Furthermore, starting late will ‘delay’ McLaren’s development of the MCL40, as they have racked up fewer kilometres than the rest of the field.
The subject of team orders is also bound to come up throughout 2026, given the controversy it caused in 2025, with many believing that Norris was favoured over Piastri. In fact, papaya rules could haunt them as early as pre-season testing.
Gary Anderson says it is ‘more difficult’ for teams to share out run times with ‘two equal drivers’
Given it is a shakedown, teams will likely run only one car at a time in Barcelona, thus emphasising the necessity to share out the run time appropriately between the drivers.
As Gary Anderson wrote in his column for The Race, this is ‘not so difficult’ to do if there is a ‘genuine number one and two’ driver within the team. This would be no issue for Red Bull, for example, with Max Verstappen being the clear number one over Isack Hadjar.
However, as Anderson notes, this is ‘more difficult’ to achieve with ‘two equal drivers’, which is exactly what McLaren claim to have, and will continue to have in 2026.
Piastri backs McLaren’s way of ‘going racing’, with the Woking outfit putting emphasis on fairness and not creating friction between him and Norris. CEO Zak Brown even said he would rather Max Verstappen win the 2025 title than the team change their way of working.
It will be important for McLaren to give their drivers the right amount of mileage in the MCL40 in Barcelona, especially with the regulations changes. They will need to get accustomed to the car, but papaya rules could make things tricky and ultimately cost them.
READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine
Which McLaren driver will have the upper hand in 2026?
Coming into 2026, McLaren will be looking to defend both titles, but their drivers will be gunning to win the championship, especially Piastri, having missed out in 2025.
The Australian led the standings for 15 race weekends, but a drop in form in the second half of the season and some controversial decisions from the pit wall allowed Norris and Verstappen to usurp him.
Who will be McLaren’s top driver in 2026 – Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri? 🤔
F1 fans are ‘worried’ about Piastri and his poor form in the second half of seasons, noticing a damning trend. The 24-year-old will be looking to put that behind him, but he will be facing Norris fresh off his maiden title.
Interestingly, Norris compared his rivalry with Piastri to McLaren’s 2007 drama with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Given how intense that intra-team battle played out back then, 2026 could shape up to be a dramatic fight between the papaya duo.
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