McLaren tries to raise his head again
About 100 days ago, the McLaren he was celebrating the World Cup with Lando Norris, but he was well aware that the 2026 challenge would be demanding and would reconsider all the hierarchies that he had climbed with speed and merit in the previous technical cycle. Not even in Woking, however, did they expect not to start on three out of four occasions between the Australian and Chinese GPs (two with Oscar Piastri and one with Lando Norris): fault of technical problems, all different but always linked to the Mercedes power unit.
The papayas are therefore looking for redemption and answers in Suzuka after having studied the solutions to the problems that compromised the first two race weekends. Norris and Piastri have been building up simulator time, the team has been carrying out an investigation with Mercedes to ensure the Shanghai failures aren’t repeated, and Leonardo Fornaroli has also been gaining experience, lapping at Montmeló in the MCL60.
Temple’s words
“At Suzuka we expect to see something more similar to Melbourne. It remains a unique and challenging circuit with its iconic corners, but like Melbourne it is a track where energy is recovered more easily“, commented performance technical director Mark Temple.
“We therefore expect a greater number of energy recovery phenomena in different areas of the circuit, such as at the entrance to Turn 1. This will be an important area to optimize, together with the performance of the chassis and tires. We knew that 2026 would bring many new challenges and we will continue to consolidate our understanding and performance as a team. This understanding will put us in the best position to maximize chassis performance and power unit exploitation, both fundamental aspects for competitiveness“.
