McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has addressed speculation that the team could switch from Mercedes to Porsche F1 power units in 2026.
After ending the works partnership with Honda, McLaren has been running Mercedes’ F1 power unit, which was installed until the 2014 season, in the past two seasons through Renault.
However, Porsche’s failure to agree a partnership with Red Bull earlier this year has fueled speculation as to which team Porsche will partner with when the new F1 regulations take effect in 2026.
Alongside Williams, another team to which Mercedes currently supplies F1 power units, McLaren has been linked to both Zak Brown and team principal Andreas Seidl due to their ties to Porsche.
Asked about the speculation, Brown said: “There are obvious advantages to being in a works team in terms of having a high level of knowledge.”
When McLaren previously split from Mercedes to join Honda, then-CEO Ron Dennis argued that a customer team could not win the world championship.
But Brown disagrees with the idea, saying: “We are very happy with Mercedes.”
“I believe we can win the world championship with a customer engine. I think the engine in our car is no different from Lewis’ car.”
“I think the engine is exactly the same. We have a long-term contract with Mercedes and we are very happy with the collaboration and haven’t spent too much time thinking about 2026 and beyond.”
Category: F1 / mclaren / Porsche