McLaren plan further upgrades after Austin struggles — SkimNews
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- McLaren confirmed the MCL40 will keep receiving development through the remaining 2026 rounds, even though most teams have stopped work on this year’s car to concentrate on 2027.
- Andrea Stella said the next upgrades can be delivered only across Brazil and Vegas, with little planned for Mexico City, and said they are intended to restore consistent podium and victory contention.
- McLaren went four races without a podium following Norris’s missed victory in Madrid, despite introducing new parts during that run.
- Lando Norris qualified eighth at the United States Grand Prix, called the MCL40 his hardest-ever car, and fell from second to fifth late in the race as Leclerc, Verstappen and Hamilton passed; Oscar Piastri finished seventh.
- Norris claimed three poles in Budapest, Zandvoort and Madrid, yet his largest winning margin was only 0.102s; he said McLaren lost almost 0.3s per lap at slow-speed corners in Austin.
- MCL40 will stay essentially unchanged from Austin at Mexico City, where only a small selection of parts is due, with further developments beginning at the Sao Paulo race.
Why it matters: McLaren’s four-race podium drought now comes with a concrete path for Norris and Piastri: only a few parts arrive in Mexico, while further changes begin in Sao Paulo and extend through Vegas. The sequencing puts the full upgrade effort after Mexico, leaving the team’s stated goal of consistent podiums resting on those later packages.
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