McLaren F1 2026: Results, Wins and Reliability | Formula Dream
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McLaren's 2026 season, measured: the double champions, and seven non-finishes
McLaren started 2026 as both drivers' and constructors' champions. Nineteen races in they are fourth, 17 points behind Red Bull, with two wins for Lando Norris and seven non-finishes, including both cars failing to start in China. The season race by race.
McLaren began 2026 holding both world championships: the constructors' title for the second year running and Lando Norris's first drivers' title, won by two points from Max Verstappen in Abu Dhabi.
Nineteen races into the new regulations, they are fourth in the constructors' championship on 365 points, having lost third place to Red Bull in Mexico City. Norris has won twice, in Hungary and at Zandvoort, both from pole. But the season has been shaped as much by what went wrong: seven non-finishes across six race weekends, including the second round in China, where neither car made it out of the garage.
Norris started thirteenth at Spa after a ten-place grid penalty.
The season in numbers
2 wins, both Norris from pole: Hungary and Zandvoort, four weeks apart.
3 poles, all Norris: Hungary, Zandvoort and Madrid.
7 Grand Prix podiums: five for Norris, two for Piastri.
7 non-finishes in 38 entries, 18%, against 5% for Mercedes, whose power unit McLaren uses.
365 points, fourth in the constructors' championship, 17 behind Red Bull. Baku was the first race of 2026 in which neither McLaren scored.
Seven non-finishes
Melbourne: Piastri crashed on his way to the grid at his home race after an unexpected power boost out of turn 4.
China: both cars failed to start, with separate electrical problems on their power units. The team could not replace the affected part before the pit lane closed.
Canada: Norris's gearbox failed on lap 40.
Monaco: Norris's power unit failed on lap 44.
Hungary: Piastri's gearbox failed on lap 56, after he had led the first half of the race.
Baku: Norris was taken out when Franco Colapinto locked up at turn 1 and hit his own team mate, Pierre Gasly.
On top of those, Norris took a ten-place grid penalty at Spa for using a fourth power electronics unit, one more than the season allows. The first had failed terminally in China.
His radio as his gearbox went in Montreal:
Lando NorrisMcLaren · Canadian Grand Prix 2026 · Race · 17:01:39 local
DriverSomething's broken about gearbox or something
It was a race winner. Norris took pole and won in Hungary, then did it again at the last Dutch Grand Prix, and was on pole for the first Grand Prix at the Madring before a virtual safety car handed the lead to Kimi Antonelli. His radio after Hungary:
Lando NorrisMcLaren · Hungarian Grand Prix 2026 · Race · 16:43:59 local
DriverWell done, mate. Well done.
EngineerBeautiful! The
Drivercar was unbelievable today. Well done, guys. Incredible. Flying, thank you so much for the car. Nice to finally be able to do it all for you again. Feels like it's been a while. Congrats, very well deserved. Hard work pays off. Just keep it going. Thank you very much. I love you all.
"The car was unbelievable today... Nice to finally be able to do it all for you again. Feels like it's been a while."
Piastri's best results are second in Japan, in his first Grand Prix start of the season, and third in Miami. Hungary was the race that should have changed his year: he led it until his gearbox failed.
Same engine, different record
McLaren use Mercedes power units, and the comparison is stark. Counting cars left unclassified, the works Mercedes team has 2 in 38 entries; McLaren 7. Williams, another Mercedes customer, has 8, and Alpine 5. The power unit problems McLaren reported, in China and at Monaco, were real, but the spread across four teams using the same engine says the whole car and its operation matter as much as the supplier.
Four rounds remain: Sao Paulo, where Norris won from pole in 2025, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Since Madrid, Red Bull have scored 152 points to McLaren's 59, turning a 76 point deficit into a 17 point lead for third. In Austin Norris was fifth and Piastri seventh; in Mexico City Norris was fifth again and Piastri lost seventh to a 10 second penalty for colliding with Arvid Lindblad. Norris is sixth in the drivers' championship on 221 and Piastri seventh on 144. The Sao Paulo times are in our Sao Paulo GP 2026 preview, and the full table is in the 2026 standings.
What this measures, and what it does not
Results, grid positions and points come from formula1.com's official results and starting grids, and match the published standings after the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Causes of retirements come from the team and drivers, and are sourced in each driver's season review.
Quotes are taken only from lines where the speaker label and the words agree.
Frequently asked questions
Are McLaren the reigning F1 champions?
Yes. They won the 2025 constructors' championship, and Lando Norris won the 2025 drivers' title by two points from Max Verstappen.
Why did both McLarens not start the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix?
Both cars had separate electrical problems with their Mercedes power units, and the team could not fix them before the pit lane closed.
How many races have McLaren won in 2026?
Two, both by Lando Norris from pole: the Hungarian and Dutch Grands Prix.
Where are McLaren in the 2026 constructors' championship?
Fourth, on 365 points after the Mexico City Grand Prix, 17 behind Red Bull, who passed them in Mexico City.
Sources
Results, grid positions and points: Formula 1 timing data via FastF1 and formula1.com results, matching the published standings after the 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix
Other retirements and the Spa penalty: the sources listed in each driver's season review
Every radio message quoted: our own team radio archive
Hear it before it is explained
A gearbox failing, a power unit cutting out, a car that will not leave the garage: the radio and the team's documents say what happened before anyone explains it on television.
The Formula Dream app plays live driver radio as it is broadcast, transcript beside the audio, and collects every FIA document of the weekend as it is published, including the power unit element changes that turned China's failure into a grid penalty at Spa. There is also a live timing Dashboard, currently in beta.
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Every Miami Grand Prix winner, measured: five races, and pole has won only one of them
Five Miami Grands Prix have been held since 2022, and only one was won from pole: Kimi Antonelli's in 2026. Max Verstappen won from ninth in 2023, and Lando Norris took his first win there in 2024. Every winner, grid slot and safety car, measured.
