McLaren Racing heads to Madrid as third in the 2026 fight
Formula1.com’s live championship order puts McLaren Racing third in the 2026 constructors’ championship on 287 points with 2 wins heading into the Spanish Grand Prix on 2026-09-13. That is a solid position, but not a title-leading one, and it leaves Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri with work to do in the second half if McLaren is going to turn those points into a real constructors’ fight.
Norris is fourth in the drivers’ standings on 171 points with 2 wins, while Piastri is seventh on 116 points with 0 wins. McLaren has pace in the account, but not enough of a buffer at the top, and Madrid arrives as the next chance to change that.
| Category | Position | Points | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| McLaren | 3 | 287 | 2 |
| Lando Norris | 4 | 171 | 2 |
| Oscar Piastri | 7 | 116 | 0 |
Where McLaren stands against Mercedes and Ferrari
The front of the table shows why McLaren’s current position is respectable but incomplete. Mercedes leads on 468 points with 9 wins, Ferrari is second on 346 points with 2 wins, and McLaren is third on 287 points with 2 wins.
| Team | Position | Points | Wins | Gap to McLaren |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercedes | 1 | 468 | 9 | 181 |
| Ferrari | 2 | 346 | 2 | 59 |
| McLaren | 3 | 287 | 2 | 0 |
That leaves McLaren 59 points behind Ferrari and 181 behind Mercedes, which is a meaningful gap even before the calendar turns to Spain. The bigger issue is the shape of McLaren’s scoring: Norris has 171 points and two wins, but Piastri sits on 116 with no wins, so the team is strong enough to stay in the top three without yet applying enough pressure on the teams above it.
Why the Spanish Grand Prix matters next
The next stop is Round 14, the Spanish Grand Prix, scheduled for 2026-09-13 at 13:00:00Z at Madring in Madrid, Spain. Formula1.com’s calendar makes this the next clean test of whether McLaren can convert its current form into a stronger second-half push.
| Round | Grand Prix | Circuit | City | Date | Start Time (UTC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | Spanish Grand Prix | Madring | Madrid | 2026-09-13 | 13:00:00Z |
This is also the point in the season where the window to erase a 59-point gap to Ferrari starts to narrow. McLaren does not need a miracle in Madrid, but it does need a weekend that shows the team can keep scoring heavily enough to stay attached to the fight above it.
Hungary upgrade and 1000-race legacy add pressure
Autosport’s Hungary report said McLaren was set to trial its upside-down “Macarena” rear wing at the Hungarian Grand Prix alongside a significant upgrade package to improve competitiveness. That matters now because Spain is the next chance to see whether that development path is producing enough pace to close down the teams ahead.
McLaren’s own 1000-race celebration material gives that pressure some historical weight. The LEGO Group and McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team said the team first raced in Formula 1 in 1966, has won 23 Formula 1 world championships, and has taken more than 200 Formula 1 Grands Prix victories.
That anniversary package also included the Lando Norris helmet set, product no. 43017, with 793 pieces and dimensions of over 7 in. high, 5 in. deep and 4.5 in. wide. It is a neat reminder that McLaren’s identity still blends heritage, branding and performance expectations in the same frame.
McLaren arrives in Madrid as the third-best team on 287 points, with two wins on the board, Norris fourth and Piastri seventh. That is a respectable position, but it is not complete, and the real question now is whether the upgrades and the team’s consistency can turn third place into a genuine chase of Ferrari starting in Spain.