McLaren will be conspicuous by its absence when Formula 1’s private, behind-closed-doors test kicks off in Barcelona next week – and it’s no accident.
The reigning champions - who will officially unveil their 2026 car and livery on February - have deliberately chosen patience over early mileage as they squeeze every last drop of early development out of their new MCL40.
With the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya booked for solid from 26 January, teams are permitted to run on just three of the five available days – and McLaren has opted not to burn one of those opportunities straight away.
Development First, Laps Later
Team principal Andrea Stella confirmed that McLaren will sit out the opening day, using the extra time to finalise development after the car’s intensive dyno programme at AVL in Graz.
“We plan to start testing either in day two or day three,” Stella told reporters on Wednesday. “So we will not be testing in day one. We wanted to give ourselves as much time as possible for development.
“You may know that you are allowed to test three days over the five that are available in Barcelona and then we will start from, either day two or day three and we will test for three days.”
The MCL40 is set to appear in a temporary testing livery in Spain, ahead of McLaren’s full season launch on 9 February. Once on track, the team plans a brief shakedown before committing to its full three-day test programme.
A Calculated Risk in a Changing Landscape
According to Stella, the decision was baked into McLaren’s plans from the start, shaped by the fast-moving nature of the 2026 regulations and the steady flow of gains emerging from the design office.
“Actually this was always going to be plan A [to hold off on running],” he explained. “There's also so much of a change that we don't need to be necessarily the first on track.
“We wanted to give, like I said before, as much time as possible for development because every day of development every day of design was adding a little bit of performance.”
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella.
Stella acknowledged that teams running earlier may gain reassurance sooner – but warned that early running can come at a cost.
“This also means that if you are early on track, you will have the reassurance of knowing what you need to know as soon as possible - but at the same time it means that you might have committed to the design and the realisation of the car relatively early.
“So you will have a compromise against development time and ultimate performance.”
Read also: McLaren fires up 2026 MCL40 as Houldley defends strategic pivot
With updates expected across the grid between testing and the season opener, McLaren’s philosophy is clear: arrive later, but stronger.
“Obviously there will be updates pretty much I guess for every car between testing and at least testing in Barcelona and the first race,” added Stella
“But we thought that in the economy of a season it was important to start and launch the car in the most competitive package and configuration that's why we pushed all the timing to the limit - but within a very manageable limit. We are on plan to be testing on day two and we didn't feel any urge to plan for testing on day one.”
For McLaren, skipping day one isn’t hesitation — it’s confidence that a few fewer laps now could pay dividends when it really counts.
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