McLaren hints at sticking with Mercedes power for 2026 F1 season
Jun.14 - McLaren looks set to continue its push for the front of the grid with customer Mercedes power.
Recently, it was rumoured that the Woking based team flirted with teaming up with Audi for 2026 - or that top engineer Rob Marshall's amicable move from Red Bull to McLaren was part of a future McLaren-Red Bull engine deal.
But team boss Andrea Stella has now hinted that staying with Mercedes power is in fact the most likely route for McLaren in 2026 and beyond.
"It's great to be a factory team," he said, "but it's almost the same if your partner is a well-known manufacturer.
"Changing partner during the transition to new regulations is associated with a certain risk, and in 2026 we want to be at the front," Stella added.
"I don't want to say 'We need two more years because our project is not mature enough'. We want to be in good shape - both in terms of the chassis and with a good power unit.
"At the moment, our limitations have nothing to do with our power unit, which is excellent," he said.
Indeed, McLaren's 2023 car is behaving so far in much the same way as Ferrari's is - inconsistently.
The first major upgrade hit the track at Baku, but Stella admits that it only delivered "a tenth at most" in terms of pace.
"But the upgrade gives us more leeway in development," said the Italian, a well-known former race engineer at Ferrari who this year replaced the new Sauber CEO Andreas Seidl as he was promoted to become McLaren team boss.
And the next major development step is now due to debut at Silverstone next month - and Stella does not deny that it might be accurately described as a 'B' version.
"The car will change in appearance quite significantly," he is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.
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So if Aston Martin got company for 2026, Williams would be the only other Honda-powered team.
27 a better option rather than jump in , it might be a pig
Yes, McL needs to concentrate on chassis, not a different PU.
McLaren are supposedly using the same PU as AM and MB. IMO that tells us the problem is not with the PU, but with the chassis and aerodynamics of the car. They need to sort out the basic car before they rush off to get a different PU and need to start over again!
McLaren has a great history of being at the front of the grid. It is sad to see them languishing in the back half of the grid in the recent past. Although I suppose we can say the same for Williams. Where have all the good engineers and designers gone?
It could be Mcl accountants thinking Merc pu for the season $12m- $15m p/a and Rbpt might be testing the waters with a better offer According to the fia rules all pu supplied to other teams must be the same spec allegedly..
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