(Motorsport-Total.com) – After the Chinese Grand Prix 2026, McLaren started the next race weekend with mixed feelings. During the training session at Suzuka, the team showed itself to be competitive on the one hand – on the other hand, they struggled with significant problems on one side of the vehicle.
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While Oscar Piastri set the fastest time in the second session, teammate Lando Norris was severely hampered by a persistent technical problem. Overall, McLaren collected 89 laps across both cars, but the focus was mainly on securing as much data as possible despite the difficulties.
Hydraulic problem sets Norris back
Friday was anything but ideal for Norris. A hydraulic leak on his MCL40 meant he could barely drive in the second session. “Hydraulics, I think,” Norris explains. “I couldn’t do more than one lap at the start.”
While the situation improved slightly towards the end of the session, valuable track time was lost. Particularly frustrating: In the first session, much of his program was focused on aero tests and therefore not very representative.
“Even the few laps I did weren’t really meaningful,” says the Brit. “On a track like this you just want to do laps – I don’t care what data I have.” The conclusion is accordingly clear: “A pretty terrible start to the weekend.”
Fastest time: Piastri provides McLaren highlight
The situation was quite different on the other side of the garage. Oscar Piastri showed a strong performance and set the day’s fastest time with a lap time of 1:30.133. “Overall it was a solid day for us,” explains the Australian. “We made good progress, especially in the second session.”
The data collected is valuable and will put the team in a good starting position. Nevertheless, Piastri remains realistic. “We know there’s still work ahead of us,” he says. “Especially Mercedes looks very strong.”
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This impression was also conveyed by the long runs with plenty of fuel at the end of the session. McLaren was almost a full second per lap slower than the Silver Arrows there. This also put them behind Ferrari in the pecking order.
Team remains optimistic despite problems
The command center also takes a differentiated view of the day. Randy Singh, Race Director at McLaren, praises the team’s work under difficult conditions. “We made the best of our opportunities,” he explains. “The team did a fantastic job managing the hydraulic problem.”
The fact that Piastri leads the timing sheets is a positive signal – but doesn’t change the basic assessment of the balance of power. “We don’t believe the pecking order has fundamentally changed,” Singh makes clear.
After a difficult season start anyway, one thing is at the forefront for McLaren: getting the maximum out of every weekend. “Our goal is to make optimal use of every session, score as many points as possible and continue to learn,” says Singh.
For Norris, this above all means making up lost time. “We’ll use the night to analyze everything and try to fix the problems,” he announces.
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