(Motorsport-Total.com) – Karun Chandhok believes that McLaren has lost ground in the development race of the 2026 Formula 1 season. The former Formula 1 driver therefore thinks that the reigning constructors’ world champion should already focus on the regulations from 2027 onwards.
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In the Sky Sports F1 show, Chandhok analyzed the current situation of the team from Woking. McLaren started the new era of regulations as a two-time consecutive constructors’ world champion and with title defender Lando Norris among the drivers. However, after the current season progress, the team no longer seems to play a realistic role in the title fight.
“I think Lando has now become quite philosophical about the fact that the title defense will not happen this year,” says Chandhok. “The gap to Kimi Antonelli is probably just too big. The goal now must be to win some races in the second half of the season and to be competitive from the start in 2027.”
Development stagnates since Miami
After a real fight for victory at the Miami Grand Prix in May, McLaren has not been able to further increase its competitiveness. Although the team achieved a success immediately before the summer break with the win at the Hungarian Grand Prix, overall McLaren still struggles with consistency issues in performance and could not make the hoped-for development step with its updates.
“They could not keep up in the development race,” explains Chandhok. “If you look at Miami, they were still fighting for the win there. But not since then. Whatever they brought or did not bring has led to them now finishing 15 to 20 seconds behind the winner.”
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For a team that has set the standard in recent years, this performance deficit is particularly painful. Therefore, McLaren must use the remainder of the season to gather insights for the future: “This is not the position a two-time constructors’ world champion wants to see itself in,” emphasizes Chandhok. “Now it’s about taking a few more wins, gaining as many insights as possible, and being competitive from the start in 2027.”
McLaren currently only in third place
In the constructors’ standings, McLaren is currently in third place with 195 points. The gap to Ferrari in second place is 90 points, and Mercedes is already 163 points ahead of the team from Woking.
In the drivers’ standings, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri occupy fifth and sixth places with 103 and 92 points respectively. The championship leader Kimi Antonelli currently has 204 points to his name.
Chandhok’s assessment underlines that McLaren should primarily use the remaining races to gain further insights and set the course for 2027.
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