McLaren has said it has found ways to “streamline” the rules of engagement between its two drivers in 2026 after facing criticism in 2025 for interfering in the title battle between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
The Woking-based team won its second consecutive constructors’ championship with six races remaining last year, but the fight for the drivers’ crown went down to final round with Norris narrowly beating Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and teammate Piastri.
Throughout the season, the team made an effort to give both drivers equal opportunities, but encountered a series of controversial moments as both became contenders for the title.
After the Italian Grand Prix, McLaren’s management faced accusations of interfering in the battle after a slow pit stop out of sequence saw Norris lose a position to Piastri and the team tell the Australian driver to give the place back.
Team principal Andrea Stella said he had spoken to both drivers over the winter about the team’s “racing principles” — often labelled Papaya Rules in the media — and said he hopes to make them more straightforward in 2026.
“I can certainly say that like anything that we approach at McLaren, we go through a thorough process of review such that we can see where are the opportunities to improve,” Stella said.
“And this was the same for what we call the racing principles and the way we go racing and internal competition. We got quite a lot of feedback already during the season last year.
“We had conversations after the season and we are having conversations pretty much as we speak now. And all this has led us to reaffirm fundamentally, like I said before, that the concepts of fairness, integrity, equal opportunities, sportsmanship, they are all fundamental for the team, for Lando and for Oscar. So they are reaffirmed, they are confirmed and consolidated, if anything.
“At the same time, we all acknowledge that the volume of work required, for instance, for the team and to some extent even for the drivers related to internal competition was important. Therefore, any attempt we can make to make going racing together just simpler to some extent will be welcome. It will be in reality a matter of fine-tuning because once we reviewed what we have done, in most of the cases we said that’s exactly what we would still do again.
“But we found a few opportunities in which we can streamline the way in which we operate collectively. Like I said, reaffirming the fundamental principles that we have adopted in the past.”
McLaren dominated the constructors’ battle in 2025 after winning 14 of 24 races during the season and beating second-place Mercedes by 364 points.
The upcoming 2026 season presents new chassis and engine regulations, and McLaren’s chief designer, Rob Marshall, said the strong points of the 2025 car would not necessarily carry into the new season.
– Honda unveils 2026 F1 power unit for Aston Martin in Tokyo
– Lewis Hamilton: Will this be his last F1 season?
– F1 2026 car launches: All pictures of new cars and dates for next reveals
“There’s a reset in the regulations,” Marshall said. “The cars are all new and any built-in advantages have gone, but we’ve still got the same people and tools doing it.
“The tools will be stretched in a different direction, but the regulations are consistent and we go about it the same way. Hopefully we get similar or the same results.
“There’s some learning, there’s some elements that we know, where we’ve lent on other cars [from McLaren’s history]. But in truth, it’s all new.
“The whole floor operation is completely different. The whole front of the car is completely different. The wings are completely different. There’s little read across, but there is some inspiration from what’s happened in the past.”
McLaren’s 2026 car will be revealed in a testing livery on Jan. 26 ahead of its track debut at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on either Jan. 27 or 28.
After three days of testing in Spain, McLaren will then launch its 2026 race livery on Feb. 9 in Bahrain ahead of the second preseason test.
