Norris sees no carry-over of this McLaren’s 2025 major advantage on MCL40

One of the key strengths behind the MCL39’s success last season was its outstanding tyre management, particularly towards the end of race stints, where McLaren was often able to make a significant difference compared to its rivals.

Speaking about the topic during the press conference at the Bahrain test, the Briton admitted that, for now, that advantage has not yet carried over to the 2026 car: “Last year we also had just a pace advantage, so going into the race it was always, we could almost drive slower, things worked better, and then we could drive quicker.

“At the minute we're a little bit off, so to match the race pace of some of the others, we have to push a bit more, and then we have more degradation. So not entirely, but I'm sure there are some things.”

The Briton believes, however, that some of last season’s strengths will remain key assets heading into the new campaign, although he admitted there is still plenty of work to be done across several areas to match their rivals.

“I know there are some things that our strengths last year that will continue to be our strengths this season. The car worked very well last year. It was difficult to understand it worked well. And it's still just very, very early days, but it's currently moving. The team are working hard on every area. That includes race pace, tyre cooling, all of those things. At the minute, we're just kind of improving in most areas.”

The reigning world champion has acknowledged that McLaren are currently slightly behind some of their main rivals, even though he remains confident about his chances of defending the Formula 1 title in 2026.

According to him, the situation is not simply a continuation of last season, stressing that further improvements are needed to make the car more competitive ahead of the opening race, while maintaining confidence in the team’s potential moving forward.