Chief designer Rob Marshall shared his thoughts on McLaren hitting the track for the first time with their 2026 car, how innovative the MCL40 is, and their run plan for the remainder of the F1 shakedown as the third day of the private event in Barcelona came to a close.
McLaren initially dedicated their time to carrying out their final preparations in the garage before reigning world champion Lando Norris joined the track in the middle of the morning, sporting the #1 on his new MCL40 challenger. The Brit reportedly clocked the third-fastest time on day three and racked up significant mileage, amounting to 74 laps in total.
As the Woking-based squad didn’t run on Monday and Tuesday, they will be allowed to take to the track on Thursday and Friday as well, with the shakedown concluding on January 30.
Marshall on McLaren’s run on the third day of the 2026 Barcelona shakedown
Rob Marshall spoke to F1 TV about McLaren’s on-track debut in 2026 and the approach to their programme during the Barcelona shakedown week. He stated that their priorities are to get mileage on the MCL40 and start to learn how the new components and systems function under the sweeping new technical regulations.
“Well, it was all about shaking the car down, getting as much learning as we can from as many laps as we could get within a reasonable time frame. So, we basically worked through just trying to learn as much as we could, just how the car operates.
“Obviously there’s an awful lot new about these cars, all new from our point of view. So, lots of learning from the mechanics in the garage and obviously a lot of learning from the drivers on track as well.”
In terms of how satisfied he is with the progress of their run plan so far and what the key takeaways are, Marshall admitted that he is rather content with how the car ran without encountering any unexpected issues. Nonetheless, he added that the MCL40 had some minor glitches they needed to straighten out before hitting the track the next day.
“Well, the car ran pretty well today. We’re quite happy with it, no nasties, no really scary things went wrong. There’s obviously little gremlins here and there, but iron those out during the day and looking forward to tomorrow now.”
What the MCL40 is like and the journey ahead of the drivers
With regard to how big of a project the MCL40 has been for the team, McLaren’s principal designer stated that their latest challenger is rather innovative when it comes to its design and engineering.
Moreover, emphasising how the drivers were only acquainted with the Woking-based outfit’s 2026 F1 car on the simulator before the Barcelona shakedown, Marshall added that they have embarked on their real journey only now, as they try to get to grips with the MCL40 on the track for the first time.
“Oh, from a design point of view it’s been massive. From a controls and engineering point of view, it’s been massive.
“And now the journey for the drivers. Obviously they’ve spent some time in the simulator, but now their journey on how they get their head around these cars starts now really.”
Marshall on McLaren’s checklist for the remainder of the 2026 Barcelona shakedown
Asked what McLaren’s checklist holds for the remaining two days of F1’s secretive shakedown event in Barcelona, Rob Marshall elaborated that they are concentrating their efforts on testing the reliability of their 2026 challenger and ensuring that it is capable of running in variable track conditions.
Furthermore, highlighting how the tricky weather conditions at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya have compromised the dry running, the Brit revealed that the reigning constructors’ champions intend to fine-tune the car and turn the wick up once they land in Bahrain for the two full pre-season tests next month.
“We really treat this week as a shakedown. So, this is for us to get the car not dialed in, get the car reliable, running, explore all the envelope, make sure it will run in all the conditions we want it to run in. We’re going all the way around the envelope, trying every single bit we can, and then when we get to Bahrain we’ll try and dial the car in a bit better.
“The conditions here are so cold that doing representative lap times is obviously going to be very difficult here.”
