McLaren confirm 'modest' changes in 'stronger' warning to F1 rivals

McLaren chief technical officer and chief designer Rob Marshall has confirmed the MCL40 will receive a "modest" package of upgrades for the United States Grand Prix, aimed at fixing braking issues that have blighted the car in recent rounds.

The Woking-based squad arrives at the Circuit of the Americas off the back of a difficult run of results, with Lando Norris retiring from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and both cars failing to score inside the top five at Sepang.

Though the team had a better weekend in Singapore, with Norris and Piastri fourth and fifth, respectively, a collision between them in the sprint soured the trip to the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

McLaren sits third in the constructors' standings on 339 points, with Mercedes and Ferrari both ahead. Crucially, Red Bull is now just seven points adrift in fourth.

Marshall explained the upgrade for Austin is targeted rather than wholesale, saying: "We're bringing a modest selection of upgrades for this event, aimed at improving some braking reliability and performance issues.

"We also have some small floor changes to test."

Austin should suit the MCL40

Marshall believes the characteristics of the Texas track play to the car's strengths after a run of rounds where McLaren has lagged behind.

"The Circuit of the Americas is physically demanding for driver and car. The series of high-speed corners with tempting kerbs generate high loads, which can unsettle the driver and cause damage," he said.

"We have all seen how difficult it is to predict the relative performance of the top teams over the last five or six races. Obviously, there are many factors in play here: cars being upgraded, cars suiting and drivers liking certain circuits, among other factors.

"The last few races have not been great for us, but I think we're getting stronger again and Austin is probably a better circuit for our car."

Marshall added that Friday practice would be used to validate the team's development tools against real-world data, with the full variety of corner types at COTA offering a useful benchmark.

"Practice will be important for correlating what we've seen in our development tools with the track," he added. "We are still learning how best to extract performance from this car. We have the full range of corner types here, so getting the best balance for the whole lap will be our main focus."

With technical regulations for 2027 set to remain largely evolutionary, Marshall indicated that much of what McLaren is learning with the current car will not go to waste once the rules shift.

"As we start looking ahead to next year, there are many things the team have learned from this first season of the new era," he said.

"The regulation changes for 2027 are quite modest, so most of the parts and philosophies on this car are relevant to the direction for next year.

"Even where the hardware itself doesn't carry across, the learning and correlation do. Every time we can compare simulation, tunnel and track results, we improve the tools and understanding we're using to develop 2027."