The chassis was designed by Paddy Lowe,[8] Neil Oatley, Tim Goss, Mark Ingham and Marcin Budkowski and was powered by a customer Mercedes-Benz engine.

It was driven by 2009 World Champion Jenson Button and Sergio Pérez,[5][6] the latter joining the team after Lewis Hamilton moved to Mercedes.

[1] By the team's own admission, the launch version of the MP4-28 contained some parts—including the exhaust, floor and front wing assembly—that had been carried over from its predecessor, the MP4-27, but new parts would be added throughout the winter testing programme.

[16] The MP4-28 displayed significant speed during winter testing at Jerez de la Frontera, leading to speculation that the car would be an early championship contender.

However, it was soon discovered that this speed was a result of a suspension component being incorrectly fitted on Jenson Button's car, which created an extremely low ride height that in turn led to the fast lap times.

[25] Sergio Pérez qualified tenth and finished ninth overall, setting the fastest lap time after making an unscheduled stop late in the race.

Despite the team playing down the expected gains from the upgrades,[28] the package nevertheless proved to be disappointing,[29] and McLaren elected to postpone the introduction of some parts amid concerns about their legality.

The team once again failed to score points in the British Grand Prix, with Button achieving a lowly thirteenth place and Pérez being classified twentieth after falling victim to an explosive tyre puncture late in the race.

Following the conclusion of the 2018 season, 7-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson drove the MP4-28 in MCL33 livery at the Bahrain International Circuit.