The decision to postpone the new 2021 technical regulations by a year will not affect McLaren’s plan to change engine suppliers next season, the team has confirmed.

McLaren announced last year they will swap Renault’s power units for Mercedes at the end of this season.

However the disruption to the start of the 2020 F1 season has prompted F1 to delay the introduction of new technical rules for next year. The teams supported the decision which also means they will use their 2020 chassis again next year.

That presents a problem for McLaren, as their chassis will now have to be altered in order to accommodate the different dimensions of the Mercedes. Power unit designs are partly specified by the rules, but can differ considerably between different manufacturers, and customer teams have to work around the compromises of fitting a unit they have not designed into their chassis.

Nonetheless a McLaren spokesperson confirmed to RaceFans they intend to go ahead with the change in power units as planned and will modify their MCL35 as needed.

McLaren is the only team which has arranged to change power unit suppliers at the end of 2021.

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2020 F1 season