When McLaren officially unveils its 2026 Formula 1 contender this week, it does so carrying both championships and a burden of proof: Does success under one set of regulations guarantee anything when the rulebook is rewritten entirely?
The Woking team enters 2026 as the benchmark, having secured back-to-back constructors’ championships in 2024 and 2025, the latter crowned by Lando Norris‘s maiden
History suggests that carrying success through major regulation changes is one of Formula 1’s rarest achievements, and McLaren faces the challenge as a customer team in an era where manufacturer power could prove decisive.
When Mercedes dominated the 2014 hybrid revolution, it did so as a works outfit with complete control over power unit integration.
When Red Bull swept four consecutive championships from 2021 to 2024 it benefited from an almost exclusive relationship with Honda.
McLaren’s task in 2026 is to succeed where few before them have managed: maintaining championship form while relying on another manufacturer’s engine.
The 2026 regulations represent F1’s most substantial technical reset since the hybrid era began.
Every team is starting from a blank page, with institutional knowledge worth less than clean-sheet thinking.
McLaren had a solid run in Barcelona
McLaren
For McLaren, that means the advantage built through the ground-effect era evaporates.
McLaren’s partnership with Mercedes extends through 2030, providing continuity that should theoretically offer an advantage.
The relationship has flourished since reuniting in 2021, with McLaren’s return to championship contention coinciding with Mercedes power.
The German manufacturer is widely tipped to lead the power unit race in 2026, drawing on lessons learned during its dominant 2014 hybrid introduction.
But being a customer team creates inherent limitations that no amount of collaboration fully resolves, and although McLaren has won its latest titles as a customer, there’s a bigger risk during a rules reset such as this one.
Mercedes designed its W17 chassis with complete knowledge of its own engine’s dimensions, cooling requirements, and packaging constraints from day one. McLaren, along with fellow Mercedes customers Alpine and Williams, had to wait for power unit specifications before finalising their own designs.
Mercedes could integrate engine and chassis simultaneously, optimising the entire package, while customer teams worked to accommodate an engine they received specifications for rather than designed around.
While that’s always the case with customer teams, the distinction could matter more at the start of a new rules era.
Mercedes also benefits from having four teams running its power unit, generating four times the data of manufacturers like Audi or Honda, who supply single outfits.
That advantage should accelerate development and reliability improvements as the season progresses, potentially giving all Mercedes-powered teams a competitive edge. But it doesn’t eliminate the gap between works and customer operations.
The question McLaren will face is whether its chassis excellence can overcome that theoretical structural disadvantage.
Defending without favouritism
McLaren’s 2025 championship success came despite, or perhaps because of, a conscious decision to let Norris and Piastri race without team orders until the season’s final stages.
McLaren is likely to face more driver-related dilemmas
McLaren
That policy created moments of tension and occasional contact, but it also made for one of Formula 1’s most compelling intra-team battles in recent memory.
Norris eventually prevailed by just two points over Verstappen, with Piastri a further 11 points back. The Australian led the championship for 15 rounds and looked the stronger driver through much of the first half of the season, before Norris’s late-season surge tipped the balance. The battles between them were at times uncomfortable for the team, but mostly undeniably fair.
Team principal Andrea Stella’s approach prioritised sporting integrity over comfortable management.
McLaren refused to implement team orders even when Norris’s championship hopes appeared to hang by a thread after his Zandvoort retirement left him 34 points behind Piastri.
The approach worked out, just, but it also established expectations going into the new season.
Piastri has made clear he expects no change in treatment despite Norris’s championship success. Speaking after the Abu Dhabi finale, the Australian stated he doesn’t expect things to change, noting Norris remains “still Lando Norris” rather than having transformed into “Superman”.
Piastri emphasised his expectation of “full fairness from the team and equality going forward,” with no concerns that the dynamic would shift.
That stance sets up a fascinating psychological dimension for 2026.
Norris arrives as the defending champion, carrying No1 on his car and the confidence that comes from finally converting his pace into a title. Piastri arrives determined to prove his mid-season dominance in 2025 was no aberration, and that he remains capable of beating his team-mate over a full season.
McLaren’s decision to maintain equality could prove either a masterstroke or a liability.
If both drivers are fighting for wins regularly, the policy maximises McLaren’s chances of securing both championships. If they’re battling for points while a rival team pulls clear, the lack of a designated No1 could be costly.
McLaren’s 2024 and 2025 success suggests it understands that balance, but 2026’s uncertainties make prediction impossible.
Norris as champion
For Norris, 2026 will represent unfamiliar territory. He has spent seven seasons chasing and ultimately succeeding. Now he needs to defend what he’s won while adapting to a car conceived under radically different rules.
Norris is facing a different challenge in 2026
McLaren
His 2025 season was defined by resilience. After dominating Australia’s season opener, he struggled with form and confidence as Piastri assumed control of the championship.
What followed defined his championship credentials. Norris didn’t collapse under pressure; he intensified his preparation and delivered commanding victories that swung momentum decisively.
Even when a Las Vegas double disqualification and a Qatar strategy error handed Verstappen hope, Norris held his nerve in Abu Dhabi to secure the title by the narrowest of margins.
That mental strength should serve him well in 2026, but defending champion status brings its own pressures. Norris needs to prove last year’s success wasn’t a fortunate alignment of circumstances, that he can perform under the scrutiny that accompanies No1 on his car, and that he can handle a team-mate who pushed him hard.
The challenge is complicated by regulatory uncertainty. Norris learned McLaren’s 2025 car intimately, developing confidence that allowed him to extract every tenth.
He now faces a car built to entirely different rules, with no guarantee it will suit his driving style or strengths.
Learning from success
McLaren chief Zak Brown has emphasised how 2025’s challenges made the team stronger, noting in an open letter to fans that “the lessons we learned last year – and there were many – are a part of our constant evolution as a team.” Those lessons included a double Las Vegas disqualification for excessive skid wear, a Qatar strategy error that handed Verstappen hope, and numerous slow pitstops that occasionally cost positions.
McLaren unveiled a temporary colour scheme 2026 livery as the Barcelona shakedown kicked off
By
Pablo Elizalde
The team’s ability to bounce back from setbacks partly defined its championship credentials. After the Las Vegas disaster stripped both drivers of points and opened the door for Verstappen, McLaren responded with composure rather than panic.
After strategic mistakes compromised results, the team refined processes rather than seeking blame. That resilience matters more in 2026 because McLaren can’t carry forward is its development trajectory.
The team spent several years optimising its ground-effect car, learning its characteristics, and extracting performance through incremental gains. That knowledge becomes a lot less useful when regulations change everything.
Stella and his technical leadership have worked quietly for years preparing for this moment, but preparation only goes so far. Testing will reveal whether McLaren’s approach works, whether its interpretation of the regulations is competitive, and whether the Mercedes power unit lives up to its billing.
Until then, championship talk will remain speculation.
McLaren enters 2026 as the team to beat based on recent form, but also as a team vulnerable to works manufacturer advantages.
If Mercedes delivers as expected, and if McLaren’s chassis matches its predecessors’ excellence, the team can absolutely repeat its double championship. But if either element falters, favouritism will count for nothing.
