While Oscar Piastri accepts that being a works team has \u201cits advantages\u201d, he has downplayed the impact that will have as McLaren gears up to take on Mercedes for the F1 2026 titles.<\/p>\n
McLaren heads into Formula 1\u2019s new chassis and engine era as the reigning champions in both the Drivers\u2019 and Constructors\u2019, but it is Mercedes which is the pre-season favourite.<\/p>\n
Is McLaren at a disadvantage to Mercedes?<\/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 Formula 1 welcomes a new era this season, the sport is not only introducing new cars that include active aerodynamics, but the engine formula has also changed.<\/p>\n It is, on paper at least, an advantage for the works teams such as Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull and Aston Martin, which is Honda\u2019s only partner.<\/p>\n Although the teams were only permitted to begin work on their 2026 machines on January 1 2025, giving everyone 13 months from design idea to first laps in the Barcelona shakedown, the sport\u2019s engine manufacturers were already working on their power units long before that.<\/p>\n It meant they could already, to some degree, plot how the engine and the chassis would work together and integrate the two before their customers.<\/p>\n More on McLaren\u2019s form in pre-season<\/p>\n What to watch out for at F1 2026 pre-season testing in Bahrain<\/a><\/p>\n F1 results: Unofficial numbers from the Barcelona shakedown<\/a><\/p>\n However, Piastri<\/a> says such is McLaren\u2019s relationship with Mercedes\u2019 engine division, having switched back to Mercedes power in 2021, that he doesn\u2019t believe it will be a telling disadvantage for McLaren.<\/p>\n \u201cNot necessarily,\u201d Piastri told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing a works team obviously has its advantages, especially now given that there is development again on the engine side of things.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve obviously got a very close relationship with Mercedes HPP, which is very beneficial to us.<\/p>\n \u201cAll our teething problems we had in the [Barcelona] test were not to do with not being a works team.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I don\u2019t think there\u2019s necessarily a disadvantage.<\/p>\n \u201cWe may be a little bit behind, that they\u2019ve had years to kind of really integrate these rules to their car, but we\u2019ve been in that process for a long time as well.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I don\u2019t think it\u2019s necessarily a disadvantage.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, the Australian racer reckons the biggest difference will be who made the best use of the 12 months prior to the Barcelona shakedown.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s more going to be about who was able to capitalise in the last 12 months on the aero testing and just getting things organised,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what was very impressive about Mercedes in particular is how they hit the ground running and were able to do 150-plus laps every day, which is probably the most impressive thing so far.\u201d<\/p>\n Mercedes topped the lap count at the shakedown, unofficially covering 500 laps with McLaren on 291.<\/p>\n As for the lap times, George Russell was second fastest in the W17, a tenth behind Lewis Hamilton, while Lando Norris was third for McLaren, a further 0.15 down on Russell.<\/p>\n The teams return to action on Wednesday in Bahrain for the start of the first official three-day pre-season test.<\/p>\n The new F1 season begins 6 March with FP1 for the Australian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Thomas Maher<\/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