McLaren is set to introduce further upgrades to its 2026 Formula 1 car at the upcoming Grands Prix in Brazil and Las Vegas. Team Principal Andrea Stella confirmed the development plan as the Woking-based squad attempts to halt a slump that has dropped them to fourth place in the Constructors' Championship standings following intense development battles against their main rivals.
The reigning championship contenders initially looked to have turned a corner after a slow start to the season, courtesy of a major upgrade package introduced at the Hungarian Grand Prix which fueled back-to-back victories. However, rapid progress from competing manufacturers has pushed McLaren down the competitive order in recent weeks.
“There will be some more stuff coming,” Andrea Stella said. “I think ultimately we will only be able to do so across Brazil and Vegas. So Mexico there won’t be very much, but Brazil and Vegas there will be some upgrades. Hopefully, this will help us to, like I said before, to be consistently in the fight for podiums and hopefully start to lean on the level of competitiveness that is required to fight for the victory.”
Driver Oscar Piastri admitted that while recent updates are functioning as anticipated, competing teams are simply out-developing McLaren on multiple fronts throughout the grueling championship calendar.
“I don’t think we’re massively strong at the moment,” Oscar Piastri noted. “Obviously, we had a few upgrades this weekend, which are doing what we expect, but clearly the teams around us are adding performance to the car. It looks like Mercedes are much more on top of their upgrades now. The Red Bull is obviously quick, and Ferrari has some upgrades as well. So yeah, we’ve got to keep pushing. But none of these upgrades are really making the car easier to drive, which is kind of our biggest problem.”
Teammate Lando Norris echoed those sentiments, acknowledging that McLaren currently fields the fourth-fastest car on the grid while pointing out persistent weaknesses in slow-speed cornering performance inherited across regulation changes.
“You hope that you put something on and it’s magical, and you go a lot quicker, and you’re fighting for a podium, all of a sudden things are all working as they should,” Lando Norris stated. “But Ferrari brought upgrades, and other teams are still bringing in upgrades. So they’re delivering. It’s just not really in all the places that we need them to. Like the slow-speed corners, we’re just nowhere near at the level we need to be. We need a lot more rear and slow speed. It’s been our issue for a long time now. It seems to be very hard to tackle, but we’ll keep working.”
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