The power units are set to dominate the 2026 regulatory revolution, but the changes go far beyond the engines alone. The new aerodynamic rules raise major questions about the optimal operating window for the cars, while active wings could reduce the importance of efficiency, all with significant consequences for suspension choices. This is something McLaren’s technical leadership quickly realised, particularly Chief Designer Rob Marshall and Technical Director of Performance Mark Temple, who addressed these topics during a press conference with specialist media outlets.
From the first bolt to the last
When it is said that the 2026 cars will have nothing in common with their predecessors, it is no exaggeration, and listening to Rob Marshall makes it clear why. “When the regulations were published, we went through them in detail and realised that literally every single part of the car was affected,” Marshall explained. “For example, there are bearings inside the transmission that only a few people are even aware of, and that many will never see, whose load cycles are different. That means the bearing has to change, and so does the oil circuit that feeds it. Then you start asking yourself whether you need to think about lubricants as well, and that ends up becoming another project.”
“There are also more obvious changes. The car will be smaller, shorter, narrower and significantly lighter, but the homologation tests are also more brutal, so you have to make the car safer for the drivers and for the people working around it. Then the FIA starts producing numerical estimates of performance and you begin thinking about the loads you might have to manage and how to change the suspension. It becomes a chain reaction that grows into an ever-larger project. Suddenly, you realise it literally affects every single bolt.”
Packaging is a major challenge
One of the biggest challenges for designers has been defining the overall architecture while accommodating all the components within cars that are smaller than before. Marshall continued: “You might think there is a lot of freedom, but when you dig into it, you realise that’s not really the case, because there are volumes that must be respected. The engines have a defined length, while the position of the gearbox and the driveshafts is fixed. You need a certain amount of fuel in the car, which requires a certain volume. The battery is larger than last year, which also fixes a certain length of the car. Then you have a set volume for the driver, and when you look at everything together, you realise you only really control about 150, 200, maybe 300 millimetres of the total car length.”
For this reason, McLaren believe it is unlikely that there will be significant differences in wheelbase between teams. “Even the aerodynamic geometries of the nose are fairly prescribed,” Marshall added. “There is some room to play around the gearbox structure and a few things near the pedals. There isn’t a huge amount of freedom. Hopefully everyone has reached the same conclusions, but if there were more freedom, we wouldn’t be aware of it.”
A new aerodynamic approach
Mechanical and structural changes are accompanied by major aerodynamic shifts, with the removal of Venturi tunnels, the return to a flat floor, and above all the increased importance of active aerodynamics. It will be interesting to see whether efficiency, defined as the ratio between downforce and drag, will remain the key parameter, given that drivers will be able to open both wings on the straights.
“Efficiency remains the most important aerodynamic factor,” reassured Mark Temple. “However, there is a change, because active aerodynamics significantly reduce drag on the straights. At that point, as a general rule, the downforce you have in the corners becomes more important than drag on the straights.”
“If you look at the season as a whole, there are tracks where you can use active aerodynamics more than others. For example, at Spa, in the final sector you can’t use it until the Bus Stop chicane, so closed-wing drag becomes more important. On circuits like Monza, where it can be activated on every straight, it matters less. This introduces a new dimension when deciding how to set up the car. On tracks where active aerodynamics are dominant, we will see cars running larger wings, while on tracks similar to Spa the situation will be closer to what we have seen in recent years.”
Design dilemmas
Another key topic for 2026 is the ongoing push-rod versus pull-rod debate for the front suspension, highlighted by the first images of the new cars. According to Rob Marshall, this decision has little to do with mechanics. “In previous years, different cars ran push-rod or pull-rod suspension. It all depends on aerodynamic choices and on which suspension layout best suits your front wing, which is obviously completely new. I would say the way other teams have arranged their suspensions depends on how they want them to interact with their front-end aerodynamic package. It is all driven by aerodynamics. From a mechanical point of view, both layouts are relatively straightforward to implement.”
Another dilemma concerns how far teams will push the use of rake, which returns to prominence for the first time since 2021. “I think the level of rake you run depends on the aerodynamic package,” Marshall continued. “I believe the aim of these regulations was to try to force higher ride heights, and from our experience I have the feeling that will be the case. How high we will go, we don’t know yet. Barcelona will be a long process of trying to understand the best operating window for the car.”
“Being able to run a high rake angle generally depends on the angle of attack of your wings. If there is no aerodynamic separation, then it works. It gives you the possibility of having more suspension travel, along with other benefits. Ultimately, though, you are chasing the peak aerodynamic load and you want the rear of the car to follow. That could happen with a high or a low rake. I don’t think the angle will be small, but it might be less extreme than people expect.”
The impact on drivers
Regardless of the rake angle, the engineers agree that the new cars will run at higher ride heights than in 2025, although not as high as in 2021. This will allow for softer suspension settings, making balance adjustments more effective in meeting drivers’ requests.
Mark Temple explained: “Because we won’t have the extreme ride-height sensitivity of recent years, there will be a bit more freedom to control the behaviour and drivability of the car without necessarily making it slower. It will be interesting to see what that does. I think it will give us greater margins to tune the car to achieve a certain corner balance.”
On the other hand, drivers will need to adapt to braking behaviour that is influenced by energy recovery through the rear axle. Temple concluded: “The other aspect to consider is the approach to energy recovery under braking and in the corners. It introduces a new challenge that we haven’t faced in any previous cycle. We don’t yet know how this will impact what the driver has to do or what they will need in terms of balance. That’s something we will learn during testing.”
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