McLaren reveal twin reasons behind 'F1 dark side' start to 2026

McLaren boss Andrea Stella has explained the two reasons why the team has started its F1 title defence on the "dark side."

After the first three races, McLaren is in third place in the constructors' with 46 points, with Oscar Piastri delivering a first podium of the year with second place in the Japanese GP. 

However, prior to that, the team suffered three 'Did Not Starts' across the first two grands prix, with Piastri failing to start in both Australia and China, with reigning champion Lando Norris also failing to see lights out in Shanghai as both cars suffered power unit electrical glitches pre-race.

In the opening races, the MCL40 package proved to be off the pace of the Mercedes W17 and the Ferrari SF-26, but Piastri's podium was a breakthrough, with the Australian looking comfortable in the lead at Suzuka before the intervention of the safety car changed the race.

Addressing the team's start to the campaign, Stella explained that there were two major reasons behind McLaren's slow start - with these being unlocking the Mercedes HPP power unit and also a hangover of its 2025 title push in which Max Verstappen chased Norris right to the line for the drivers' crown.

"The first part of the season presented some challenges, essentially for two reasons. The first is that it took longer than expected to learn how to harness the full potential offered by the power unit," Stella explained.

"Furthermore, we suffered from various reliability issues in this area, which not only had a significant impact on results but also on the pace of our learning process. The second is that the design phase of the MCL40 was affected both by the fact that we continued to fight for the championship right up to the final race in 2025 and by a different approach to design. 

"Specifically, we wanted to make sure that the launch spec of the car was a healthy platform for development. As we know, there is a long way to go with the new 2026 regulations. 

"These, in short, are the reasons why we found ourselves trailing behind rivals such as Mercedes and Ferrari, who arrived better prepared than us at the first round of the season. 

"If this is the ‘dark’ side, there were many ‘bright’ aspects. The first, let me say, is represented by the character shown by the team and the drivers, in line with what we saw in 2025 when we won both titles. 

"Once again, we have faced the difficulties in a united and cohesive manner, both internally and with our partners at Mercedes HPP.

"In addition, we have seen in Suzuka the first signs of progress, where we secured our first podium of the season thanks to Oscar’s second place. In the background, we have also noticed that the development rate of the car looks very promising. 

"There is still work to be done on reliability and on optimising performance, but I believe we have taken a step in the right direction."