Termed “U” shaped by Technical Director Paddy Lowe, as the two “L” shaped individual inlets together form a “U”. With a lot of expectation around McLarens new car, the newly unveiled MP4-26 did indeed surprise with its sidepods. A month earlier few would have believed that to have been only remotely possible.Airflow passes over the sidepod to the beam wing (yellow), while an undercut still directs flow the sidepod All pieces fell into place in China where a cunning strategy and a great drive saw Hamilton claim the MP4-26's first win at its third outing. Red Bull still had a clear advantage but McLaren emerged as the second team with Hamilton and Button finishing second respectively in the opening two Grands Prix. The upgrade made a night and day difference and the MP4-26 was in the sharp end of the standings for the first time of the year. Once again showcasing their ability to turn things around, the McLaren engineers at Woking developed a heavily revised package ahead of the season opening Australian Grand Prix. Unfortunately the MP4-26 ended the tests showing both a lack of pace and reliability. A major contributor to the problems was a complicated exhaust system that directed the high-velocity gasses onto the floor well forward in an attempt to generate additional downforce. These would turn out to be far from trouble-free and the MP4-26 would rack up the least miles of all top teams' cars.

The MP4-26 was launched a few days later and was used in the following sessions. In order to get a better understanding of the new tyres, McLaren decided to run the old car during the first official test session.

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