迈凯伦为何不会很快全面转向2027年赛车研发
迈凯伦认为在夏休后继续为2026年赛车带来升级仍有很大收益，且不会因此损害2027年项目。匈牙利站引入的改进地板和新版前翼帮助诺里斯拿下本赛季首个分站冠军。
迈凯伦为何不会很快全面转向2027年赛车研发
迈凯伦认为，在夏休后继续带来赛车升级仍有很大收益，且不会损害其2027年F1项目。
在2026赛季开局处于落后之后，迈凯伦正展现出这支历史悠久的车队在过去两年之所以如此成功的一些特质。
正如其在2024和2025赛季季中升级上的高成功率，迈凯伦在匈牙利站的最新升级套件——包括改进的地板和最新版本的前翼——在迈阿密和蒙特利尔此前升级的基础上又迈出了重要一步。这让其车手有机会争夺胜利，兰多·诺里斯拿下了他本人和车队本赛季的首个大奖赛胜利。
迈凯伦的争胜表现尚未在不同赛道和不同天气条件下得到确认。但这可能来得太晚，已无法成功卫冕任何一个冠军，车队仍落后领先的梅赛德斯159分。在车手锦标赛中，诺里斯在赛季开局艰难阶段损失大量积分后仍仅列第五，皮亚斯特里则更靠后，位列第七。
车队解释其2026赛季开局迟缓的原因，是去年不得不应对红牛车手马克斯·维斯塔潘的后期冠军挑战，再加上其在2026年概念车研发过程中做出的方向修正。
“我们显然在赛季末与马克斯有过一场激烈、虽然略显意外的竞争，”迈凯伦工程总监尼尔·霍尔迪说。“但显然，我们在为2026年工作的同时，一直研发我们的赛车直到年底。当你看看我们进入2026年的状态时，与几支车队相比，我们有点处于落后。”
“我认为我们在带来大量为赛车增加性能的升级方面做得相当不错。从动力单元角度、从赛车角度，我们都让自己处于更好的位置。但你必须承认，有几支车队确实比我们做得更好。现在我们必须在下半赛季找到办法，在研发上超越他们，在更多比赛中变得更有竞争力。”
马克斯·维斯塔潘，红牛车队，奥斯卡·皮亚斯特里，迈凯伦
与去年不同——当时法拉利等无缘争冠的车队坚决地早早转向下个赛季——迈凯伦仍然觉得为今年赛车增加性能会在2027年对其有利。尽管其赛车设计本身不会完全延续，因为车队已经在规划一款轴距更长、悬挂布局改变的2027年挑战者。
明年规则还有多项调整，包括地板前部的前围板或茶盘将缩短300毫米，这不仅会影响下压力产生，也会影响车身高度。
“我们预计接下来几场比赛会带来一些重要部件，我们也预计会在赛季很晚的时候继续这样做，”霍尔迪确认道。“我们当然不会停止‘26年的研发，因为我们知道，无论我们从2026年带到2027年的是什么，那些经验都会延续。
“即使我们的赛车可能会变得稍长一些，即使概念上悬挂可能会改变，我们今年学到的一切对明年都非常相关。所以，我们非常希望尽可能长时间地继续研发赛车。”
他补充道：“理解你所产生性能的最佳方式，就是把它放到赛道上，真正进行测试，并确保它做到你预期的事情。如果你现在就停止2026年，那肯定会让你更多进入理论世界，而这并不一定意味着你会产生大量2027年的性能。
“所以，我们目前的观点是，接下来有这么多比赛，我们可以在这些比赛中增加性能。让我们找到在这些赛事中增加性能的方法，我们知道这些经验对2027年会有用。”
与其他所有车队一样，迈凯伦也能从对手的做法中获得灵感，该车队是第三支试用倒置后翼的车队，这一设计最早出现在2026年冬季测试的法拉利赛车上。
霍尔迪承认，车队对在规则中错过了那个机会有点“失望”。但法拉利展现出的创新进一步凸显出，2026年技术规则并不像最初以为的那样具有规定性。
“在空气动力学方面，虽然[赛车]看起来相当接近，但我认为实际上并非如此，”霍尔迪解释道。“人们打开了一些空间。我认为规则给了我们足够的自由。
“当你在谈论第一年时，你确实会从其他车队做过的事情中学到很多。当你重新阅读规则时，你会在其中发现很多，实际上意味着它们比2022到2025年更开放，显然在第一年，你学到太多东西，能够研究不同概念是件很有趣的事。
“侧箱就是一个很好的例子，也许它们本身并没有巨大的性能空间，但你在维修区里看到那么多不同的设计。还没有人趋同，所以有很多东西可以尝试，以找到正确方向。”
英文原文
Why McLaren won't switch full focus to its 2027 car anytime soon
McLaren feels there is still plenty of benefit bringing car upgrades after the summer break without compromising its 2027 Formula 1 project
Having started the 2026 season on the back foot, McLaren is showing signs of what made this iteration of the storied team so successful in the first place over the past two years.
True to its successful strike rate with in-season upgrades in 2024 and 2025, McLaren's latest upgrade package in Hungary, featuring a revised floor and the latest iteration of its front wing, was another significant step forward building on previous updates in Miami and Montreal. It gave its drivers a chance to fight for victory, with Lando Norris claiming his and the team's first grand prix win of the campaign.
McLaren's race-winning form has yet to be confirmed on different circuits and in varying weather conditions. But it has likely come too late to successfully defend either championship, with the team still 159 points behind leader Mercedes. In the drivers' championship Norris is still only fifth after losing a lot of ground during a difficult opening spell of the campaign, with Piastri further behind in seventh.
The team explained its sluggish start to the 2026 season was down to it having to fend off a late title challenge from Red Bull's Max Verstappen last year, combined with a course correction it made during the development of its 2026 concept.
"We obviously had a big, although slightly surprising, competition with Max at the end of the season," said Neil Houldey, McLaren's technical director for engineering. "But obviously, we were developing our car right until the end of the year whilst working on 2026. When you look at how we went into the start of 2026, we were a little bit on the back foot compared with a couple of teams.
"I think we've done a pretty good job of bringing a lot of upgrades that have added performance to the car. We've put ourselves in a better position from a PU perspective, from a car perspective. But you'd have to say that a couple of teams out there have certainly done a better job than us. And now we've got to find a way in this back half of the season to outdevelop them and become a little bit more competitive at more races."
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Rather than last year, when the likes of Ferrari and other teams out of contention resolutely switched focus to the following season early, McLaren still feels adding performance to this year's car will stand it in good stead in 2027. That's despite its car design itself not fully carrying over, as the team is already plotting a 2027 challenger with a longer wheelbase and a changed suspension layout.
There are also a number of tweaks to the regulations next year, including the front bib or tea tray at the front of the floor becoming 300mm shorter, which will not only impact downforce generation but also ride heights.
"We expect the next few races to be bringing some major parts, and we expect to do that quite late on into the season as well," Houldey confirmed. "We're certainly not stopping development on ‘26 because we know that whatever we take from 2026 into 2027, that learning will carry over.
"Even if our car might get a little bit longer, even if conceptually the suspension might change, everything that we're learning this year is very much relevant for next year. So, we're very keen to keep developing the car for as long as we possibly can."
He added: "The best way to understand the performance you're generating is by putting it on the track and actually properly testing it and making sure it does what you expect it to do. If you stop 2026 now, it certainly puts you more into that theoretical world, and it doesn't necessarily mean that you'll generate lots and lots of 2027 performance.
"So, our view at the moment is there's so many races coming up that we can add performance to. Let's find ways of adding performance to those at those events, and we know that that learning will be useful for 2027."
Like every other team, McLaren has been able to take inspiration from what its rivals are doing, with the squad the third team to trial an upside-down rear wing first seen on the 2026 Ferrari in winter testing.
Houldey admitted the team was a little "disappointed" it had missed that opportunity in the regulations. But the innovation seen at Ferrari further underlines how the 2026 technical regulations are less prescriptive than perhaps first assumed.
"Aerodynamically, although [the cars] look quite close, I think they're not, actually," Houldey explained. "There's a little bit that people have opened up. I think the regulations give us enough freedom.
"When you're talking about year one, you really pick up a lot that other teams have done. You pick up a lot within the regulations when you re-read them that actually means that they're a little bit more open than 2022 to 2025, and obviously in that first year, you learn so much that it's good fun to be able to look at different concepts.
"Sidepods are a good example where maybe there isn't a huge amount of performance in them, but you see so much down pitlane that are different. No one's converged yet, so you've got a lot of things that you can try out to find the right direction."
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