On the surface, everything at McLaren seems perfectly under control. Look a little closer, though, and the picture changes.

Oscar rolled out of the pits first — the ideal setup to give Lando a tow at Monza. Instead, he overshot the braking for Turn 1, then immediately backed off and simply abandoned the tow.

The telemetry makes the moment even stranger: the braking trace looks… off. Almost as if Oscar wasn’t fully committed to making the corner in the first place.

Then, on his final run, he qualified 0.290s ahead of Lando.

Fast-forward to the closing laps.

Two McLarens, wheel-to-wheel, inches from disaster. It felt uncomfortably familiar — Ferrari-style chaos, except McLaren supposedly operates under its famous “papaya rules”.

Rules that may need a refresher.

Because Oscar is back. His race pace was strong, his confidence obvious, and he finished just 0.2 seconds behind Lando. 🧡🥊

Let’s start with the name: Madrid + Ring = Madring.

We all know the immediate association the English-speaking world will make… Almost like when Fernando Alonso Racing Team’s abbreviation was hastily removed from the newly branded race transporters during the first international visit of his karting outfit. 😄

Back to Madring…

Not everyone is happy to welcome F1. There are two legal fights — one involving a political party and another brought by an environmental organisation.

There is even a residents’ group called Stop F1 Madrid, whose main arguments include noise levels and public health.

During recent F3 testing, noise levels reportedly went north of 100 dB, while the WHO guideline for urban environments is under 50 dB.

So we have something close to a perfect storm brewing:

Political opposition. Environmental groups. Local activists. Legal challenges.

And this is happening before the first F1 race lap has even been completed.

Several legal experts believe the real legal battle could begin after the first race, once the event has taken place and its real-world impact can be challenged.

Seems like nothing new for F1 — controversy everywhere you look. 🏎️⚖️🇪🇸

Let’s compare 2025 and 2026:

On the surface, the top-speed difference looks relatively small. But the 3-second difference in lap time is enormous by F1 standards.

Just for comparison: the fastest car in 2026 would have qualified 20th on the 2025 grid — 1.507 s. slower than the 19th-fastest car.

So what is going on?

The top speeds are relatively close, but in 2026 that peak speed is reached roughly halfway down the straight. Then comes the super-clipping — limiting the power output to manage the energy budget.

And this is the really strange part of the current “energy formula”:

We are using some of the most sophisticated ICE engines ever built, burning extremely expensive synthetic fuel — reportedly costing $300+ per kilogram — only to use the combustion engine, in part, as an electricity generator.

In other words:

The most advanced F1 engines ever built are being used to produce some of the world's most expensive electricity.

Is this really what Formula 1 is supposed to be about? 🧠🏎️

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The Fastest Lap Newsletter is an independent project and is not affiliated with Formula 1 or any F1 team.

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Tomorrow, best. 🏎️