Daily News 19

Tag: McLaren F1

  • Rivals Copying Ferrari’s F1 Aero Designs Is “a good reward” for Maranello

    Rivals Copying Ferrari’s F1 Aero Designs Is “a good reward” for Maranello

    Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur believes rival Formula 1 teams copying the SF-26’s innovative aerodynamic concepts is a “good reward” for the Maranello-based team.

    Ferrari entered the 2026 regulations cycle with a striking car featuring several notable areas of technical innovation. At winter testing in Bahrain, the team added a winglet to the structure behind the exhaust. Internally known as Flick Tail Mode (FTM), the device generates additional rear downforce at the cost of a small increase in drag.

    Ferrari introduced another concept the following day: a rotating wing nicknamed the Macarena wing, which flips 180 degrees between cornering and straight-line configurations.

    Ferrari’s exhaust wing copied by rivals

    The exhaust wing has been widely copied by Ferrari’s rivals, although the Scuderia’s design has proved difficult to fully reverse engineer because Ferrari developed parts of the rear of the SF-26 around the concept. The FIA has since banned the exhaust device for 2027 by closing the relevant loophole in the technical regulations, preventing similar designs from becoming increasingly extreme.

    Red Bull has also adopted the upside-down wing, while McLaren has tested its own version. McLaren began work on the project after seeing Ferrari’s design during testing, whereas Red Bull independently pursued a different concept.

    “We were disappointed not to pick that up as quickly as Ferrari did and then Red Bull,” said McLaren technical director Neil Houldey. “As soon as we saw it, we realised there was an opportunity there.”

    Speaking exclusively to Motorsport.com, Vasseur said Ferrari’s aerodynamicists and designers had received a boost from leading the development race. He has encouraged the team to embrace innovation and take greater risks.

    Asked whether rivals copying Ferrari’s exhaust wing and rear wing represented a compliment to Maranello, Vasseur replied: “I’m not there to have compliments. I’m there because I want to win. The best compliment for me is to go on the podium.

    “But yes, it’s true that for the guys in the team, to see Red Bull coming with the wing, and I think probably Red Bull started before seeing our wings, but the others starting to copy [it], or even the device on the exhaust, for the guys in the team who had the idea it’s a good reward.”

    Ferrari’s SF-26 emerges as a leading F1 chassis

    Despite Ferrari’s well-documented power unit weakness, the SF-26 can arguably be regarded as the strongest chassis in Formula 1. After a series of upgrades, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have both won a grand prix, at Silverstone and Barcelona respectively, while Ferrari sits second in the championship standings.

    The SF-26 was the first Ferrari designed under technical director Loic Serra. He was signed in 2023 but joined the team from Mercedes only at the end of 2024 after an extended gardening leave period.

    Vasseur said Serra’s delayed arrival and the time required to develop the 2026 car illustrated why it takes so long to transform an F1 team.

    “The frustration that you can have sometimes in F1 is that on the technical side the process is mega long, because you have a lot of inertia,” he explained.

    “For example, we started to discuss [with Loic] mid ’23 and he joined the team at the end of 2024. Then he’s focused on the car of ’26, and he’s still recruiting people to help him. It means that this process is about years, when on the other hand we want to get results next week.

    “I’m very, very pleased with the choices that we made, with the set-up that we have, and the collaboration that we have in the team. The team is strong. The collaboration is mega strong.”

  • F1 Q&A: Piastri on Norris Deal, Antonelli’s Italian GP Penalty, Ferrari and Zandvoort

    F1 Q&A: Piastri on Norris Deal, Antonelli’s Italian GP Penalty, Ferrari and Zandvoort

    Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli will look to strengthen his grip on the Formula 1 drivers’ championship at his home race, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, this weekend.

    The 20-year-old faces a growing challenge from resurgent McLaren, particularly Lando Norris, who has won the past two Grands Prix. Monza is also home territory for Ferrari, although the circuit’s long straights may not suit the characteristics of their car.

    BBC Sport F1 correspondent Andrew Benson answers the latest questions ahead of round 13 of the 2026 season.

    What does Lando Norris’ contract extension mean for Oscar Piastri?

    There is clearly some tension behind the scenes, and Piastri’s performance and development have dipped this season.

    Oscar Piastri has not started the campaign as strongly as he did last year. In 2025, the Australian appeared on course to challenge for his first world title for much of the season, before his campaign unravelled during the final third.

    This year, team-mate Lando Norris has won two races and should have won a third in Miami. Piastri has looked capable of victory only in Japan, where he was leading before being unlucky with the safety car, and Hungary, where Norris took his first win of the year.

    Piastri took the lead in Hungary after Norris made an error on the opening lap. However, he was delayed while lapping Carlos Sainz’s Williams, allowing Norris to retake the advantage. Piastri acknowledged that it would have been difficult to keep Norris behind even if he had retained the lead because his pace on the hard tyres was poor. The issue ultimately became irrelevant when he retired with a broken gearbox.

    The qualifying head-to-head statistics are uncomfortable for Piastri, with Norris leading 12-4. However, their actual one-lap pace is much closer, with Norris only 0.08 seconds faster on average.

    Norris has nevertheless been the more convincing race performer, which explains the 55-point and three-place gap between the McLaren drivers in the championship.

    Why has Piastri struggled against Norris?

    Several factors may be contributing to the difference between the two drivers.

    Piastri has traditionally been strong through high-speed corners. However, fewer of those corners are grip-limited this year because the engines often use them to charge the battery, reducing one potential area of advantage for the Australian. All the drivers have complained about this change.

    The cars also have less downforce than last season, and Piastri is less comfortable than Norris in low-grip conditions.

    There is also no doubt that Norris consistently raised his performance level during the second half of last season on his way to winning the world title. He has continued to improve this year and is unquestionably one of the drivers of the season so far.

    McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said at the most recent race in the Netherlands: “Last year, we had seen already with Oscar that, from a technical driving point of view, when the car has this low level of grip, like we saw last year for instance in Mexico or in Austin, he needs to adapt the way he drives, the way he thinks, the driving, his expectations.”

    “This requires a bit of mental effort, which gets him to lose a couple of tenths of a second because you sort of have to process rather than drive through pure instinct because what happens is what you expect.”

    “So it’s one of those cases in which you have to adapt your natural driving style to the demand of the car. So it stays in the space of driving and in the space of the technical side of things. I don’t think it has anything to do with any psychological kind of opportunity. This is purely technical.”

    Stella also stressed that the leading three teams are closely matched, meaning, as he put it, “as soon as things are not optimised, then you may have a very significant positional loss – it’s very brutal from this point of view”.

    Could McLaren still pursue Max Verstappen?

    McLaren and Piastri reject suggestions that there is tension in their relationship. However, McLaren did try to sign Max Verstappen this summer, and it is virtually certain that Piastri would have been replaced if the deal had gone through.

    That possibility has receded for now following Verstappen’s new contract with Red Bull. However, the agreement includes performance clauses. If Red Bull continue to struggle next year, McLaren may make another attempt to sign Verstappen.

    For now, Piastri is under contract until at least the end of 2027. His focus will be on returning to the level of performance he knows he can deliver.

  • Lando Norris’s 2026 F1 Title Hopes Face Crucial Monza Test, Says James Hinchcliffe

    Lando Norris’s 2026 F1 Title Hopes Face Crucial Monza Test, Says James Hinchcliffe

    Former IndyCar Series driver and F1 TV analyst James Hinchcliffe believes McLaren’s performance at Monza will determine whether Lando Norris can mount a realistic challenge for the 2026 Formula 1 championship.

    Norris heads to the Italian Grand Prix after consecutive victories at the Hungarian and Dutch Grands Prix. Those wins, combined with a third-place finish in the Dutch sprint race, have reduced his championship deficit to 83 points.

    McLaren’s Monza pace could define Norris’ title hopes

    However, Hinchcliffe has cautioned that McLaren’s recent success came at high-downforce circuits. He believes Monza, with its long straights and low-downforce demands, will provide a crucial test of the team’s competitiveness.

    Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Hinchcliffe said:

    “We’ve had two sort of similar tracks back-to-back. I really think Monza is going to answer some questions. I think the level of competitiveness we see out of McLaren at Monza is going to really set the table for whether or not they, and Lando specifically, have a shot at this championship,” Hinchcliffe explained.

    Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer, who joined Hinchcliffe and host Tom Clarkson on the podcast, added:

    “Lando at his worst was 101 points [behind] this year. I actually think he’s driving unbelievably well. He’s in the frame for driver of the season, him and Kimi, for me, have been the two standouts.

    “But he’s still 83 points back. I think Hinch is bang on; I think when you look at the last races – Budapest, Zandvoort – they’re both high-downforce. They are both, if you gave me a list to say who these tracks would suit driver-wise, I’d put Lando’s name right next to both of them.

    “He has a great track record there, McLaren has got a great track record at both, and he’s delivered absolutely brilliant wins, but can they do it at Monza? That’s where I’m not sure.”

    Norris is currently fourth in the drivers’ championship with 159 points. Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli leads the standings on 242 points, while George Russell and Lewis Hamilton are tied on 183 points.

    The Italian Grand Prix is scheduled to take place at Monza from 4-6 September.

    Source: www.motorsport.com

  • Oscar Piastri’s 2026 F1 Season: The Ugly Statistics Behind a Winless Year

    Oscar Piastri’s 2026 F1 Season: The Ugly Statistics Behind a Winless Year

    Oscar Piastri’s struggles at McLaren have continued into the 2026 Formula 1 season, with qualifying pace, rear-tyre management and the MCL40’s aerodynamic characteristics limiting his challenge for race wins.

    Piastri won the 2025 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, extending his lead over McLaren teammate Lando Norris to 34 points. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was 104 points adrift and appeared to be out of contention.

    However, Piastri did not win another grand prix during the remainder of the season and eventually dropped to third in the championship. His decline prompted unfounded speculation that McLaren was sabotaging his title bid.

    Piastri trails Norris in 2026

    Beyond podium finishes at Suzuka and Miami in the spring, Piastri has not seriously challenged for victory during a difficult 2026 campaign. More concerning for the Australian is that Norris has outperformed him, winning at the Hungaroring and Zandvoort, as well as the Miami sprint.

    Piastri’s problems have been most apparent in qualifying and have carried into the races. Norris has beaten him 22-7 in qualifying since last season’s Dutch Grand Prix. Piastri has six pole positions, nine fastest laps and nine grand prix victories, but he has not looked likely to add to that total so far this year.

    Why the McLaren MCL40 is challenging for Piastri

    Part of the problem is linked to the McLaren MCL40’s design concept. Piastri has traditionally struggled on low-grip circuits, where his relatively conventional driving style can create spikes in rear-tyre surface temperatures as the tyres slide.

    Norris has shown greater adaptability between the two drivers. By overlapping the brake and throttle while approaching corners on a shallower trajectory, he encourages the front tyres to help rotate the rear of the car as they reach peak lateral grip. That approach requires a strong feel for front-end grip and confidence that the rear axle will respond as expected.

    Piastri’s more linear brake and throttle inputs tend to produce greater rear-end movement when grip levels are low. That weakness has been amplified by this year’s cars, which generate less overall downforce.

    McLaren has also struggled to produce efficient rear downforce because it chose the shortest wheelbase permitted under the regulations. The decision delivered straightforward weight savings but left the team with less floor area for adding strakes and slots to manage airflow.

    Piastri laboured to sixth in Zandvoort as his teammate won.

    Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

    Small losses caused by rear-end slides can accumulate throughout a lap, depending on the circuit layout. Piastri then needs to use more electrical energy than Norris to regain speed, which can leave him with a lower state of charge and cost him top speed on the straights.

    Rear-tyre degradation remains a concern

    Recent upgrades have returned McLaren to race-winning contention after an underwhelming start to the season. Piastri failed even to make the grid in Australia and China because of power-unit problems, but the rear axle’s behaviour remains a concern, particularly during races, when he generally experiences more tyre degradation than Norris.

    The issue was visible at the most recent Dutch Grand Prix. Norris defeated championship leader Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes in a straight fight, while Piastri was held back by a slow pit stop and rear-tyre problems. He finished sixth, 32 seconds behind his teammate.

    “In general I’ve been much happier with the car this weekend, which has been good,” Piastri said in Zandvoort.

    “I feel like it’s been back into the normal kind of rhythm of having strengths in some corners, weaknesses in others, rather than just trying to find time everywhere, which has been nice.

    “We still probably lack a little bit of downforce compared to some of the others, or at least some balance characteristics. I think we rely a lot on the grip from the new tyres to help our balance.

    “Maybe we pay the price a bit more when the tyres get worse, but that’s just a guess.”

  • Lando Norris Gives His Verdict on McLaren’s 2026 F1 Title Fight

    Lando Norris Gives His Verdict on McLaren’s 2026 F1 Title Fight

    Lando Norris remains confident that McLaren can make the necessary improvements to its current Formula 1 car and challenge for the 2026 world championship.

    Speaking to Sky Sports after announcing a contract extension with McLaren through the end of 2030, the British driver assessed the team’s prospects in the current championship campaign.

    McLaren endured a difficult start to the season but has made a significant performance gain following the introduction of upgrades. Norris has since claimed consecutive victories at the Hungarian and Dutch Grands Prix, moving himself into title contention.

    “Well, we’re trying to change that. That’s one thing I’m certain of,” Norris explained when asked if the car is in a position to fight for the championship.

    “The team is working better than they’ve ever worked before. I think they’re working in a more efficient, harder way, even than the last couple of years. And that level was world championship-winning level. So, it’s not that I don’t think we can win it.

    Lando Norris, McLaren
    Photo by: Eric Le Galliot

    “I’m confident we have a lot of what we need in place. It’s just certain areas on the car that we need to improve. And I believe we can. It’s just a race against time, as always, within Formula 1. But we proved over the last few weekends that we can still win races, and we have very good momentum.

    “I always want that little bit more, and I want to be confident that we can improve the car enough to easily say, ‘Yeah, we can fight for this world championship.’

    “So, we can easily fight as a team. We just need to improve some things with the car, and I’m still confident we can do that.”

    McLaren currently sits third in the constructors’ championship with 263 points, 162 points behind leaders Mercedes. Norris is fourth in the drivers’ standings with 159 points, 83 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli.

    Source: www.motorsport.com

  • Why McLaren Must Pass Its Monza Test Before Pursuing an F1 Title Challenge

    Why McLaren Must Pass Its Monza Test Before Pursuing an F1 Title Challenge

    McLaren Faces Crucial Monza Test After Consecutive F1 Victories

    After a difficult start to the 2026 Formula 1 season, McLaren appears to have returned to the front of the grid. The Woking-based team struggled with its understanding of the Mercedes power unit in Australia and suffered a double DNS in China, but consecutive victories in Budapest and Zandvoort have changed the outlook.

    Lando Norris has cut his deficit to championship leader Kimi Antonelli to 83 points, reigniting McLaren’s hopes of defending his drivers’ title. However, team principal Andrea Stella is refusing to draw premature conclusions about a potential championship fight.

    Monza will test McLaren’s recent progress

    Stella wants McLaren to focus on one race at a time rather than look too far ahead.

    “Beyond any way of saying, the real approach we have is just one race at a time. There’s not much more you can influence than just maximising what’s next available,” Stella said when asked by Motorsport.com how much confidence this gives McLaren for the second half of the season.

    “The next race will be in Monza, and if we think about the demands of Zandvoort and Hungary, and then think about the demands of Monza, we are in a completely different regime.”

    That difference makes the Italian Grand Prix an important internal benchmark for McLaren. The Hungaroring and Zandvoort are both high-downforce circuits, while Monza is a high-speed track dominated by long straights and chicanes.

    McLaren was able to exploit the strengths of the MCL40 in Hungary and the Netherlands, particularly through medium-speed corners. However, Norris described the car’s slow-speed performance on Saturday as “nowhere near good enough”.

    Monza will therefore demand a different set of qualities from the McLaren. Stella considers the circuit one of the team’s most important tests yet because it will reveal whether its recent gains can translate to a low-downforce layout.

    Energy management remains a key concern

    Unlike Zandvoort and Budapest, Monza is an “energy-starved” circuit, placing greater emphasis on energy management and the team’s understanding of the Mercedes power unit.

    McLaren was significantly behind the Mercedes works team in that area at the start of the season. The team has made substantial progress since then, including through the long-awaited simulation tools it received for Spa. Monza will provide a clearer indication of how valuable those improvements are at a circuit where power-unit understanding is especially important.

    Stella wants those questions answered before McLaren begins discussing a title challenge.

    “So I think if we can confirm our improvements in Monza, then I would say that the answer to your question is yes, then we can look with some optimism at the remainder of the season.

    “But first of all, we need to go to Monza and see that our car can express a good performance in the long straights.”

    Monza will also test McLaren’s low-downforce configuration, which has not been one of the MCL40’s strongest areas. Stella stressed that the challenge is not limited to understanding the Mercedes power unit.

    “We know that drag is not necessarily a point of strength of our car,” he said. “And, for instance, there’s a lot of braking as well, which is not necessarily a point of strength of our car either.”

    Stella remains cautious on Norris’ title hopes

    For now, Stella is limiting his conclusions to specific circuit characteristics rather than discussing a title defence with Norris. McLaren must first prove that its recent form is not restricted to high-downforce tracks.

    “There’s a lot of things that we need to confirm as we head on to the next race”, Stella insisted. “But so far, I think we can confirm is that when we are at high-downforce circuits, with this sort of layout, then we can fight for victories.”

  • George Russell Outlines “tough” Battle to Keep Lewis Hamilton Off the Dutch GP Podium

    George Russell Outlines “tough” Battle to Keep Lewis Hamilton Off the Dutch GP Podium

    George Russell has revealed how he defended his podium position from a late attack by Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton at Formula 1’s Dutch Grand Prix.

    Russell explains how he held off Hamilton

    Russell qualified second for the race at Zandvoort but was overtaken by Kimi Antonelli on the opening lap. The Mercedes driver moved back ahead of his young team-mate after the pit stops, although Antonelli was running an alternate strategy with a tyre offset.

    Mercedes subsequently asked Russell to give up second place in the closing stages so Antonelli could reclaim the position. That left Russell defending from Hamilton, who was charging through the field and had already passed both Ferrari drivers late in the race.

    “It was tough,” Russell said after the race when asked how he kept the seven-time champion at bay.

    “I think Kimi’s and my race was kind of the opposite. I had a tough medium stint, he had a very strong medium stint, then I had a strong hard stint, he was struggling. But that VSC gave Lewis the free pitstop, and obviously Kimi pitted as well.

    “From there on in, I knew I was going to be under threat, but I was managing enough in the high-speed corners to allow me to be fast in sector three and defending into Turn 1. So, I was pleased with that performance.”

    George Russell finished third behind Kimi Antonelli. Photo by: Mark Thompson / Getty Images

    Mercedes faces growing McLaren and Ferrari threat

    Russell acknowledged that the podium capped a “challenging couple of weekends” for Mercedes after McLaren won in Hungary and again at Zandvoort following the summer break.

    Mercedes continues to lead both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships, but McLaren has been improving steadily through successive upgrades. Ferrari is also expected to introduce a new engine at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, leaving Mercedes with little room for complacency.

    “I think these coming two or three race weekends will be a challenge for us both [Antonelli and him], purely because we’re out of sync with the upgrades,” Russell added.

    “I think we will be slightly more competitive [at Monza]. However, I believe Ferrari have an engine upgrade incoming, and the truth is we just don’t know. But I do believe that these high-degradation circuits [like Zandvoort] really suit McLaren very well, and especially Lando. He’s always been a bit of a specialist in those conditions. We also saw it last year. Monza may be slightly different, but I think they are the team to beat right now.”

    Russell is currently second in the drivers’ standings on 183 points, level with Hamilton. Both Mercedes drivers are 59 points behind championship leader Antonelli.