Oscar Piastri says McLaren has a better understanding of the MCL40\u2019s \u201cproblems and limitations\u201d following the Barcelona F1 2026 shakedown last week.<\/p>\n
McLaren recorded almost 300 laps across three days of running in Spain where 10 of the 11 teams were in action in a behind closed doors test, where teams could run on any three of the five days.<\/p>\n
Oscar Piastri: \u2018Problems, limitations, understandings\u2019<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/p>\n McLaren opted for the final three.<\/p>\n Reigning World Champion Lando Norris put 76 laps on the MCL40, before handing the car over to Piastri<\/a> for Thursday\u2019s running. The Australian was limited to 48 laps as a fuel system issue cost him track time.<\/p>\n McLaren\u2019s technical director of performance, Mark Temple: \u201cWe discovered a fuel system problem, which meant we haven\u2019t been able to do all the running we would like. The car is very complex, so we decided to bring the car back into the garage and strip it down to fully understand where the problem is coming from, ahead of tomorrow\u2019s running.\u201d<\/p>\n The teammates split the driving duties on McLaren\u2019s final day on track, bringing the team\u2019s overall tally to 291 laps with Norris third fastest on the overall timesheet with a 1:16.594, two-tenths down on Ferrari\u2019s Lewis Hamilton.<\/p>\n But while Piastri was 1.1s off the pace, the 24-year-old was happy with the shakedown test as he felt he established a good rhythm in the all-new McLaren.<\/p>\n The test did, however, inform McLaren about a few \u201cproblems and limitations\u201d that the team can now work on before heading to Bahrain for the first official pre-season test from 11 February.<\/p>\n Barcelona shakedown: How important are the lap times?<\/p>\n F1 results: Unofficial numbers from the Barcelona shakedown<\/a><\/p>\n How important is the fastest lap in F1 testing? History tells us more<\/a><\/p>\n In F1 2026, teams are running all-new cars, Formula 1 have scrapped the ground-effect aerodynamic design of the last four years to return to overbody aerodynamics. The cars are also shorter, lighter and incorporate active aerodynamics.<\/p>\n The engine formula has also been tweaked with the PU powered by fully sustainable fuel and including a 50\/50 split between combustion and electrical power.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I got into a pretty good rhythm and was able to start to feel what the car is actually like, which was nice. Tried a few things already to see how we can improve it, and stuff like that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut yeah, just trying to run it in different configurations and stuff like that, to see what it\u2019s like for race weekend.<\/p>\n \u201cStill definitely a lot to learn, especially on the power unit side of things. Just how you get the most of it and how you go the fastest, basically.<\/p>\n \u201cSo still plenty of things to learn there [about the engine]. But I think we\u2019ve kind of understood some of the problems, some of the limitations. Some of the things are just different compared to last year \u2013 both on the power unit and the car.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously the car itself, it\u2019s got a lot less downforce than what we had last year as well. So getting used to that and how that feel has been the biggest thing we\u2019ve started to get ourselves into.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cThe main thing for Mercedes HPP is trying to understand the power unit as well, and we\u2019re trying to help them.<\/p>\n \u201cAny information that they can get from Lando and I, is very helpful, but even just running the power unit is very helpful for them.<\/p>\n \u201cSo there are a lot of things going on at once, but everyone has got slightly different priorities, but they\u2019re trying to make us all as quick as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n