McLaren opens door to own F1 engine as clear condition set

Zak Brown, the McLaren chief executive, says the team would consider building its own F1 engines if it “makes sense financially.”

It comes after the FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, opened the door to a return to V8 engines for the next F1 rules cycle.

McLaren would consider building own F1 engine

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McLaren reunited with current engine supplier Mercedes ahead of the 2021 season after a short-lived works partnership with Honda and a brief stint with customer Renault power units.

The team has enjoyed considerable success since reverting to Mercedes power, winning consecutive constructors’ titles in 2024 and 2025 and claiming its first drivers’ championship since 2008 with Lando Norris last year.

Team principal Andrea Stella admitted during McLaren’s challenging start to the new season that the early part of 2026 was “the first time that we feel we are on the back foot” due to its status as a customer team.

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Stella’s comments sparked suggestions that McLaren could explore alternatives – either striking a new works partnership with a manufacturer or following in Red Bull’s footsteps by producing its own engines – ahead of the next major rule changes.

Ben Sulayem revealed earlier this month that a return to V8 engines – last used in Formula 1 in 2013 – could be on the cards for 2030 or 2031.

The FIA president commented that a cheaper and simpler powertrain would open the door for McLaren to finally build its own engines.

According to the Sports Business Journal, he said: “I believe when we will introduce it [V8], even McLaren will do their engine.

“They wouldn’t be going to others, because now they are now going to others to do it because it is a complicated unit.

“They said: ‘We’d better go and buy what is available than go and introduce a new engine.’”

In response, Brown has admitted that McLaren would consider an in-house engine if it proved financially viable.

Yet he insisted that the team “couldn’t be happier” with its current relationship with Mercedes High Performance Powertrains.

Brown told the SBJ: “If you got an engine formula that was financially viable then, yeah, we would consider it and the technology.

“That being said, we couldn’t be happier with Mercedes.

“If something is presented to us that first financially makes sense, then we’ll have a look at it.”

McLaren agreed a long-term extension to its Mercedes customer deal in November 2023, with the partnership set to run until at least the end of the 2030 season.

Away from F1, McLaren has already produced its own engine for the new MCL-HY hypercar, which will race in the World Endurance Championship from 2027.

The car’s twin-turbo V6 unit was designed and developed inside the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking.

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