MOTORSPORT – FORMULA One’s back-to-back constructors’ world champions McLaren unveiled their stunning, all-new car for the 2026 FIA F1 World Championship last night in a launch event held at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir and streamed live to tens of thousands of fans watching from all over the world.
His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, was in attendance for the spectacle, which was capped off by an incredible fireworks display that brilliantly lit up the Sakhir night sky in McLaren papaya.
The Bahrain-owned team’s MCL40 is a complete overhaul of its predecessors following the biggest rule changes in the history of motorsport’s top flight. Revealed by the superstar tandem of reigning F1 drivers’ world champion Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, McLaren’s 2026 challenger stayed true to its signature livery, while boasting a visibly narrower overall width and shorter wheelbase with vast new aerodynamic features – all part of F1’s fascinating ‘new era’.
“We’ve never seen these types of technologies deployed in any form of motorsport, and there’s a lot of change – there is not a wheel nut that has been carried over from 2025 to 2026,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown said during the launch.
Also on hand were McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, McLaren Racing chief marketing officer Lou McEwen, McLaren chief designer Rob Marshall, and other top officials from the team and Bahrain.
“I look forward to a very exciting new era for F1,” said Stella, who noted that the car went through at least 18 months of innovation, production, and manufacturing leading up to last night’s launch. “There will be a lot to discover, a lot to understand – it will be so for the teams, for the drivers, and for the fans as well.
“I think it is a season ahead to stay tuned.”
The MCL40 will be hitting the track at BIC this week along with the rest of the F1 grid for F1 Aramco Pre-Season Testing 2026. The tests are to be held over six days, divided into two three-day sessions, beginning with the first from tomorrow to Friday and then again from February 18 to 20.
Testing will be the first chance for F1 fans in Bahrain and around the world to witness in person the next generation of F1 cars in action ahead of the start of the new campaign, scheduled for March 6 to 8 in Melbourne, Australia. The F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2026 will then be the fourth round of this campaign, slated for April 10 to 12 at BIC.
Norris and Piastri expressed their excitement for getting into the cockpit of their respective contenders.
“It honestly doesn’t feel that long ago that we finished the season,” said Norris. “It’s coming around quickly, and now we’ve got a test here in Bahrain that we’re excited for.
“It’s a lot of new things on the car that we have to prepare for and learn about, as well as the team, so excited to get the test going, but also, if I could skip ahead to Australia now and press go for the weekend, that’s something I would do.”
Piastri added: “I’m ready to go again – all recharged.
“It’s going to be a big challenge for all of us. The cars have changed themselves but also the power units. The car’s behaviour is quite different to what we’ve had the last few years – just getting used to a lot of different things is going to be exciting.”
Brown and Stella echoed their drivers’ enthusiasm, with Stella – a 25-year F1 veteran that has been instrumental to the successes of F1 legends such as Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen, and Fernando Alonso, and now McLaren’s Norris and Piastri – stressing the importance of constantly getting “better and better”.
“It’s been a very successful couple of years at McLaren – back-to-back constructors’ champions and then the drivers’ championship; we reflect on the success, but at the same time, you also have to say that we have not been perfect, so there are many lessons learned that we need to capitalise on,” explained Stella.
“F1 is a sport where you have to get better and better because all the competitors raise the bar more and more, year after year – that’s definitely the name of the game.”
Brown voiced his supreme confidence in the team’s ability to once again contend for the F1 title double, but also acknowledged that there are no clear favourites heading into the new campaign, which he expects to be “a fearsome season”.
“Our advantage is our people and our team,” said Brown. “We’ve had very little change, we’ve had a few great additions to the racing team, but we’ve had a great period of stability. We have great men and women who have produced these great race cars these last few years.
“That being said, we’re starting all over again and everyone’s drawing on a clean sheet of paper. From that standpoint, all 11 teams are starting from the same spot, but I wouldn’t bet against our people.
“This sport is unbelievably competitive and it’s going to be a fearsome season this year and we are very much looking forward to it. We as the team need to understand how to maximise the car, as will the drivers, and I think it’s going to be a development race.
“You talk about what is our secret sauce? Our driver line-up – I wouldn’t bet against either of them. Fourteen wins last year, seven each – what an awesome pairing we have and we’re excited to go racing again with them this year.”
Brown thanked His Royal Highness Prince Salman and Mumtalakat for their unwavering support and for putting together last night’s spectacular launch.
“When you get on the plane, it feels like everyone is a papaya McLaren fan, so it’s absolutely amazing support we have from them,” said Brown.
To mark last night’s McLaren car launch, a number of buildings across the kingdom’s capital were lit up in papaya, as was BIC’s iconic Sakhir Tower and all across the world-class F1 host venue.
Prior to yesterday’s launch and ahead of testing in Bahrain, the MCL40 took to the track in Barcelona, Spain, along with the rest of the F1 field for a ‘shakedown’ held over five days last month. The car had a unique, all-black livery for that event.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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