– Statistically speaking, Shanghai was the first time since the US Grand Prix 2005 in Indianapolis that no McLaren started a race – back then, the team joined the other Michelin-shod teams that withdrew after the formation lap.
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Before that, you have to go back to 1966, when the team in its first Formula 1 season unsuccessfully searched for competitive engines, to experience McLaren having to withdraw two cars before the race start for reliability reasons. And even then, the second car had already been withdrawn before the weekend.
In 1966, Bruce McLaren unsuccessfully turned to the 3-liter V12 of the small Italian manufacturer Serenissima after his project to downsize the Indy 500 winner engine from Ford provided neither power nor reliability.
The Serenissima engine also proved to be a disappointment in this regard – although the local priest in Sasso Marconi blessed each engine block individually before it was loaded into the McLaren truck.
Stella trusts in Mercedes
In 2026, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella places his trust in Mercedes-Benz High Performance Powertrains (HPP) rather than divine assistance.
“China was definitely a difficult and frustrating event for us,” Stella says ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix. “Having two cars unable to participate in a Grand Prix is a pretty extraordinary situation. We understand the cause of the problem.”
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“In both cases it was related to the electrical side of the power unit. We had battery defects, but they were different faults that occurred almost at the same time during the weekend – in that sense it’s quite extraordinary. We worked together with HPP to investigate the problem.”
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“We are 100 percent confident that HPP has implemented appropriate remedial measures.”
McLaren hopes for a normal weekend
Although the battery faults were of different nature, the unit from Piastri’s car was salvageable, while the one from Norris’ suffered permanent damage. According to reports, it was a software issue that thwarted McLaren’s efforts in the garage – they even tried to swap the control electronics – and rendered Norris’ battery unusable.
In Piastri’s case, the problem was with an auxiliary component attached to the battery.
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“HPP has very high standards,” Stella continues. “If they can process information about a fault, they will certainly implement all necessary insights, adjustments and measures to prevent a recurrence. So we’re definitely looking forward to what I would call a normal weekend – an opportunity we didn’t have in China and to some extent not in Australia either, when Oscar spun during the qualifying laps.”
“As a team, we’re looking forward and especially happy for Oscar, who hasn’t been able to complete a single race lap this season. We want to break this trend and finally be there.”
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And if all else fails, he can always call a priest …
