McLaren and Pirelli off to a rocky start to test of 2026 wet weather tyres

While Ferrari was testing an old F1 car in Barcelona this week, McLaren was a few hundred kilometres away testing the MCL60, the car driven in the 2023 season by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. The latter was in action on Wednesday at the Paul Ricard circuit, where a tyre test did not go as hoped.

For Pirelli, McLaren was testing rain tyres for the 2026 season. However, Piastri could not complete the planned number of laps in the morning hours as it was extremely cold at the track in France. Some parts of the asphalt were only -2 degrees Celsius.

In the afternoon, Piastri, McLaren and Pirelli still managed to go onto the track extensively and were able to make up for lost ground. In the end, the Australian completed 120 laps, with a best time of 1.07.008. He did so, incidentally, on a artificially wet track.

On this Thursday, Lando Norris is behind the wheel of the McLaren. He is testing both rain tyres and intermediates. These tyres are quite different from the ones set to be used next season. The current rim diameter (18 inches) remains the same, but both the front and rear tyres as well will be narrower.