F1 2026 Preview

McLaren F1 2026 Preview: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri hit breaking point

Dan Ripley Thursday 5 March 2026 13:27

Photo: © IMAGO

After years of being in the doldrums, McLaren’s long and steep climb back to the F1 summit was finally completed in 2025 when they won both the drivers’ championship with Lando Norris and also the constructors’ championship.

That was the first time the team had won both titles since 1998 with Mika Hakkinen, and it came after some dark years, where between 2013 and 2022 they were largely nowhere in the F1 world having fallen from grace as regular grand prix winners.

But after a poor start to 2023, they finished the year bagging podiums and then won the constructors’ championship in 2024, which paved the way for the glory of 2025. Yet, despite this there does seem like there is a volcano about to erupt at Woking.

Who are McLaren’s F1 drivers?

Once more, new world champion Lando Norris will be teaming up with Oscar Piastri in their fourth consecutive season together. Lando Norris has been with McLaren since his F1 debut back in 2019, and along the way has had team-mates including Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo. Norris enters the season as the defending F1 world champion having seen off four-time champion Max Verstappen by just two points following the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi to win his first crown.

Oscar Piastri meanwhile will be desperate to wrestle the crown off of his team-mate having led the world championship for much of 2025 before a late collapse in form saw him eventually finish third. The Australian has already proven he can be quick if not quicker than Norris and the two will be one of the most evenly matched pair of drivers on the 2026 grid.

Where did McLaren finish in 2025?

Lando Norris topped the standings to win his first world championship with 423 points, two more than nearest rival Max Verstappen, while bagging seven grand prix victories including his maiden home victory at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix. Although third place, Piastri was just 13 points behind his British rival by the end of the season, missing out on the championship in the last race.

McLaren cruised to the constructors’ championship, to ensure they retained the title they had won in 2024 for the first time since 1998. From the very first race they never looked like being beaten and their 833 points is the most any team has ever achieved aside from Red Bull in 2023 when Max Verstappen won nearly every race and helped his team rack up 860 points.

Who is McLaren’s team principal?

Andrea Stella is the team principal of McLaren and has been in the role since December 2022 following a highly experienced career in Formula 1. Stella previously spent many years at Ferrari, working with Michael Schumacher along with being a race engineer for fellow world champions Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso.

Stella moved with Alonso to McLaren in 2015 and has worked his way up to the top. McLaren's rise from also-rans in early 2023 to double world champions ten years after his arrival is in no small part down to the Italian rising to the top ranks.

But it’s not just Stella who has excelled at McLaren, CEO Zak Brown has played his role in assembling a fine team and overseeing operations.You are likely to see both during a race weekend, but while Stella is a more reserved character, Brown is a more straight talking side of management. And you need that balance!

Zak Brown and Andrea Stella have been key to McLaren's success

What is Papaya Rules?

McLaren’s Papaya Rules instruction to their drivers is in theory meant to allow both Norris and Piastri to race each other fairly, while also prioritising not to risk a collision and ensure maximum points can be brought home by the team. It sounds lovely in principle but McLaren’s well-meant but overeagerness to be fair to both its drivers has now often left them in a bit of a pickle.

For instance, Norris was hard done by a poor McLaren pit-stop at the Italian Grand Prix that allowed Piastri to move into second place. However, Piastri was controversially told to let his team-mate past because basically he had been quicker of the pair up to that point. Piastri indeed did let Norris by on their way to second and third by the race end.

Two races later, and Norris tags Piastri at the very start of the Singapore Grand Prix, gaining an advantage on his team-mate. While no in-race action was taken, it was understood that for the rest of the season, Piastri would get favourable treatment in qualifying as a form of compensation. That idea was immediately binned when Piastri caused a crash with Norris at the very next race in the US Grand Prix sprint race. You can see how messy this is already, and this was all played out in public too.

As the stakes got higher in the championship so did paranoia in the McLaren fanbase, with many Piastri supporters making ridiculous accusations of favouritism towards Norris within the team. Regardless of the veracity of these claims, it wasn’t a good look for McLaren.

By the end of it McLaren’s eagerness to give their drivers racing rules that looked fair on paper has instead caused bigger issues in how much they favour either driver. They should have listened to Max Verstappen from the very start, who called the whole thing nonsense in his own elegant way. Either way, it's staying for 2026.

The biggest reason to hope

The pressure, or at least a huge chunk of it is off. Lando Norris drove relatively poorly despite his championship win last term, with it seeming like the heat of a title battle, and what he may have seen as his best and only chance to live a lifelong dream, was forcing nervous drives and uncharacteristic errors. With the title now won, expect to see a more relaxed Norris behind the car this season and maybe the best we have seen him yet.

Piastri will be more motivated than ever to banish the memories of his 2025 title decline, so expect some pent up anger to be unleashed on the track as he focuses on trying to be the first Australian world champion since Alan Jones in 1980. Norris and Piastri are arguably the strongest driver pairing on the grid so if the car is good, they will be too.

The biggest reason to worry

McLaren don’t seem to have the rocketship they had last season. The car looks quick, but not quick enough to challenge for race wins as we head into the season opening Australian Grand Prix. Although that is based on testing performances and estimations - this is also the perceived wisdom within the paddock.

Combined with Norris and Piastri being very equal, there is a real danger in the two taking valuable points off each other throughout the season. They were very lucky it didn’t cost them the drivers’ championship in 2025, but with seemingly less room for error this time around, McLaren may have to ditch Papaya Rules and back a driver for a championship tilt. Whether this is Norris or Piastri this is going to be a breaking point given everything that has happened with these drivers in the last year or so.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri could cost each other points during the season

McLaren prediction

Although not impossible it’s hard to see McLaren maintaining their status as the top dogs in F1 which they have been for the last 18 months or so. They will still be up there challenging for wins and certainly podiums but they seem to be slightly behind Ferrari and Mercedes coming out of testing.

How much strain this puts on the team is unknown. It may even ease any tension between Norris and Piastri if they are not battling for the world championship. Don’t be surprised though if like in 2023 and 2024 McLaren start finding more speed as the season progresses as a well drilled development team starts finding chunks of time buried within the new regulations.

Latest F1 odds for 2026

Lando Norris to win the drivers’ championship:10/1 Oscar Piastri to win the drivers’ championship: 14/1 McLaren to win the constructors’ championship: 3/1

McLaren fun fact

The last three drivers’ world championships won by McLaren have had a gap to second place with a combined total of just five points. Mika Hakkinen won by two points from Ferrari’s Eddie Irvine in 1999, Lewis Hamilton saw off Ferrari’s Felipe Massa by just one point in 2008, and Norris pipped Red Bull’s Verstappen by just two points in 2025.