迈凯伦为何不会停止2026年F1赛车研发
迈凯伦认为夏休期后继续为2026年赛车带来升级仍有很大收益，不会因此牺牲2027年项目。车队在匈牙利站推出的最新升级包延续了其中期升级的高效传统。
为什么迈凯伦暂且还不会关闭其2026年F1赛车的研发工作
迈凯伦认为，在夏休期之后继续为赛车带来升级仍然有巨大的好处，而且不会损害其2027年一级方程式项目。
在2026赛季起步落后之后，迈凯伦正在展现出让这支历史悠久的车队在过去两年取得成功的某些特质。
与2024年和2025年赛季中升级的高命中率一脉相承，迈凯伦在匈牙利推出的最新升级包包含修改后的底板和最新版前翼，是在迈阿密和蒙特利尔此前升级基础上的又一个重大进步。这让车手们有了争夺胜利的机会，兰多·诺里斯（诺里斯）借此夺得了他本人以及车队本赛季的首场大奖赛胜利。
迈凯伦的夺冠实力尚未在不同赛道和多变的天气条件下得到验证。但这很可能来得太晚，无法成功卫冕两个冠军头衔，因为车队目前仍落后领跑者梅赛德斯159分。在车手总冠军榜上，诺里斯在赛季开局艰难阶段损失了大量积分后仅排名第五，皮亚斯特里则以第七名的成绩落后更多。
车队解释说，2026赛季开局缓慢的原因是去年不得不抵御红牛车队马克斯·维斯塔潘的后期冠军挑战，再加上在研发2026年赛车概念时进行的一次方向调整。
"我们显然在赛季末与马克斯进行了一场激烈的、尽管有些出乎意料的竞争，"迈凯伦工程执行技术总监尼尔·霍尔德伊说，"但显然，我们在研发2026年赛车的同时，直到年底都在持续开发我们的赛车。看看我们进入2026赛季时的状态，与几支车队相比，我们处于稍微落后的境地。"
马克斯·维斯塔潘（维斯塔潘），红牛车队；奥斯卡·皮亚斯特里（皮亚斯特里），迈凯伦
"我认为我们在为赛车带来许多提升性能的升级方面做得相当不错。无论是从动力单元角度还是从赛车角度来看，我们都让自己处于更有利的位置。但必须承认，外面有几支车队的进步确实比我们更大。现在我们得在本赛季后半段找到超越他们的办法，在更多场比赛中变得更有竞争力。"
与去年不同——当时法拉利等已无争冠希望的车队早早把重心转向下一个赛季——迈凯伦仍然认为为今年的赛车继续提升性能，将有助于他们在2027年有好的表现。尽管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、悬架布局有所改变2027年新车。
明年的规则还有一些调整，包括底板前部的前端导流板（又称茶盘）将缩短300毫米，这不仅会影响下压力的产生，还会影响赛车离地高度。
"我们预计接下来几场比赛会带来一些主要部件，而且预计会在赛季相当靠后的阶段才这么做," Houldey 确认道。"我们当然不会停止对'26赛车的研发，因为我们知道，无论我们从2026年带进2027年的东西是什么，这些经验教训都会延续下去。
"即使我们的赛车可能会稍微加长一些，即使从概念上悬挂可能会有所改变，我们今年所学到的一切对明年来说都非常相关。所以，我们非常希望在尽可能长的时间内继续研发这辆赛车。"
他补充道："理解你所产生的性能的最好方法，就是把它放上赛道，进行真正彻底的测试，确保它达到你的预期。如果你现在就停止2026年的研发，那肯定会让你更多停留在理论层面，而这并不一定意味着你会产生大量的2027年性能。"
"所以，我们目前的看法是，接下来还有很多场比赛可以为提升性能而利用。让我们想办法在这些赛事中增加性能，我们知道这些学习成果将对2027年很有用。"
与其他所有车队一样，迈凯伦也从竞争对手的做法中获得了灵感，该车队是第三支试用倒置尾翼的队伍，这种尾翼最早出现在2026年法拉利的冬季测试中。
Houldey 承认，车队对于在规则中错过那个机会感到有些"失望"。但法拉利上看到的创新进一步表明，2026年技术规则并不像人们最初以为的那样僵化。
"从空气动力学角度来看，虽然（这些赛车）看起来相当接近，但实际上并非如此，"Houldey 解释道。"各家车队已经有所放开了一些。我认为规则给了我们足够的自由。
"当你在谈论规则的第一年时，你确实会借鉴很多其他车队已经做过的事情。当你重新阅读规则时，你会发现其中很多东西实际上意味着它比2022年到2025年的规则要开放一些，而且在第一年你显然能学到很多东西，能够去研究不同的概念是很有乐趣的。
"侧箱就是一个很好的例子，也许它们本身并没有很大的性能潜力，但你会看到维修区里有很多不同的设计。还没有人收敛到同一个方向，所以你有很多东西可以尝试，以找到正确的方向。"
英文原文
Why McLaren won't turn off its 2026 F1 car development just yet
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.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Oscar Piastri, McLaren
"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."
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."
Motorsport.com ·
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