McLaren

2026 storyline

:::analysis McLaren enters Monaco GP 2026 in a transitional competitive position. The 2024 season was the team's championship breakthrough, with Norris finishing as Drivers' Championship runner-up to Verstappen and the team a clear race-winning constructor. The 2026 regulation reset has reshuffled the competitive order; through the opening rounds McLaren has been a step behind Mercedes but ahead of Ferrari and Red Bull in mixed weeks.

The driver pairing remains one of the strongest on the grid. Norris brings qualifying pace and wet-weather craft; Piastri brings race-day consistency and tyre management. If McLaren can find a meaningful pace step through the European races, the team is one of the few capable of challenging Mercedes for the Constructors' title. :::

Background

• Base: Woking, Surrey, UK
• Power unit: Mercedes
• Team principal: see team's official site for current leadership
• Founded by Bruce McLaren in 1963; competed in F1 since 1966^[1]

Championship history

McLaren has won eight Constructors' Championships and 12 Drivers' Championships, the second-most in both categories behind Ferrari^[1]. The team's most successful eras include:

• The Senna-Prost period (1988-1991) with four consecutive Drivers' Championships.
• The Hakkinen years (1998-1999) and the Hamilton-Alonso 2007 fight.
• The 2024 return to championship contention after a long mid-grid period.

The 2013-2023 decade was the longest competitive trough in the team's modern history, including the troubled 2015-2017 Honda partnership and several mid-grid seasons before the 2024 breakthrough.

Driver lineup

• Lando Norris — British, NOR, 2024 Drivers' Championship runner-up. See /drivers/lando-norris.
• Oscar Piastri — Australian, PIA, triple junior champion. See /drivers/oscar-piastri.

Related

• Mercedes
• Ferrari
• Red Bull