{"id":403448,"date":"2026-01-10T04:33:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T04:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/403448\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T04:33:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T04:33:08","slug":"mclaren-finalises-f1-2026-launch-plans-with-bahrain-reveal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/403448\/","title":{"rendered":"McLaren finalises F1 2026 launch plans with Bahrain reveal"},"content":{"rendered":"

McLaren is the 11th and final team to confirm its launch date for the F1 2026 season.<\/p>\n

The car, which has not yet been officially named, will be revealed in Bahrain on February 9th.<\/p>\n

McLaren announces launch date for F1 2026<\/p>\n

McLaren has confirmed when it will unveil its car for the F1 2026 season as it prepares to defend the titles it claimed last year.<\/p>\n

The Woking-based outfit is the final team on the grid to announce details of its launch plans for the 2026 campaign, although is yet to formally confirm the name of the chassis.<\/p>\n

Based on the existing nomenclature, the chassis is likely to be named the MCL40, but the team has shown a willingness to mix it up in recent years, such as with the MCL60 in 2023.<\/p>\n

McLaren<\/a> confirmed on Friday evening that its new challenger will be presented on Monday, February 9th, at the Bahrain International Circuit, shortly before the first of two three-day pre-season tests at the venue.<\/p>\n

The confirmation came on the same day that the first 2026 car took to the track for the first time, with the newly-renamed Audi (formerly Sauber) heading to Barcelona<\/a> for a closed-door filming day.<\/p>\n

Bahrain\u2019s sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat Holding Company, owns 100 percent of the McLaren Group, which includes the McLaren Racing company, which houses the F1 team.<\/p>\n

McLaren\u2019s confirmed launch date coincides with the launch of the first Adrian Newey-penned Aston Martin.<\/p>\n

Alpine
\n23 January 2026<\/p>\n

Aston Martin
\n9 February 2026<\/p>\n

Audi
\n20 January 2026<\/p>\n

Cadillac
\n8 February 2026<\/p>\n

Ferrari
\n23 January 2026<\/p>\n

Haas
\n19 January 2026<\/p>\n

McLaren
\n9 February 2026<\/p>\n

Mercedes
\n22 January 2026<\/p>\n

Racing Bulls
\n15 January 2026<\/p>\n

Red Bull
\n15 January 2026<\/p>\n

Williams
\n3 February 2026<\/p>\n

More on F1 2026\u2019s pre-season<\/p>\n

F1 2026 cars: What name has each team given its chassis for the 2026 season?<\/a><\/p>\n

F1 2026: Confirmed car launches and test days for huge regulation changes<\/a><\/p>\n

McLaren heads into the new season as the reigning constructors\u2019 champion for a second consecutive year, having secured titles in both 2024 and 2025 under different circumstances.<\/p>\n

In 2024, the team edged Ferrari by a slender 14-point margin in a closely fought championship battle. Last season, however, McLaren was in a class of its own, dominating the field and finishing a commanding 364 points clear of Mercedes, its nearest rival.<\/p>\n

The team also celebrated a landmark achievement in the Drivers\u2019 Championship, with Lando Norris claiming his first world title and McLaren\u2019s first since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.<\/p>\n

Norris sealed the title in dramatic fashion, beating Red Bull\u2019s Max Verstappen by just two points after a tense season finale.<\/p>\n

Norris\u2019 team-mate Oscar Piastri, who led the championship for much of the year, ultimately finished third, 13 points adrift of the British driver.<\/p>\n

Read Next:\u00a0Lando Norris admits \u2018a bit too chaotic\u2019 worry ahead of Abu Dhabi finale<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"McLaren is the 11th and final team to confirm its launch date for the F1 2026 season. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403449,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,818,913,44,85],"class_list":["post-403448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-home-page","tag-mclaren","tag-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}