Twelve months ago McLaren set the pace almost everywhere. Now, most of the way through the opening stretch of 2026, the champions are the ones playing catch-up, and both driver and team boss have settled on the same unit of measurement for the deficit to Mercedes: months, not tenths of a single lap.
Lando Norris has been the most quotable about it. "We're like two, three months behind. That's not one upgrade; that's a lot of bits," he told Sky Sports. One new floor will not fix it, he warned: "One good upgrade, no. We need three, four, five, but it depends." His timeframe for a genuine recovery is measured in the same currency: "I don't think we're going to be quickest anytime soon but hopefully over the next three, four, five months we can catch up and we can narrow the gap to be on pace with them."
Andrea Stella uses identical language and translates it into development time. "This couple of months is the delay that we have at the moment. We see that it's probably two, three months, the space between which we see upgrades from the top teams," the McLaren principal told The Race. To grandprix.com he was more precise about the raw pace shortfall: "We're probably 3-4 tenths off the top, the numbers are pretty clear, but we know exactly what to do."
The causes are concrete. McLaren's 2026 challenger carries too much drag, lacks the downforce of the Mercedes, is slow to bring its tyres up to temperature on cooler circuits and runs a power unit a step behind the works Silver Arrows. Stella admits early concept choices are now being reversed as the team gets to grips with the new rulebook.
The interesting split is temperament. Norris has been candid that the car is unpleasant to drive, describing it as "maybe one of the hardest cars I've ever driven in Formula 1" and noting the swing in form: "There's no way we can finish P2 in Miami and have a car like this today." Oscar Piastri identifies the same weakness. "When everything is just a little bit out of our comfort zone we seem to struggle," he said.
Stella refuses to catch the mood. "I'm not the least bit worried, I know our ability to react," he said, treating Mercedes' rolling upgrades as a contest McLaren can win. "They bring something new to every grand prix. It's a battle of innovation."
The team expects its first real gains before the summer shutdown and its heavier hitters afterwards. The season's second half, and McLaren's title defence, now hinges on whether a stack of updates can erase a gap that Mercedes is working just as hard to preserve.
