McLaren eager for validation after striking Red Bull F1 difference

McLaren is eager to find out whether its decision to switch off development of its 2025 F1 car early will reap rewards in '26.

Given the competitive nature of the MCL39, McLaren was able to turn off development early after winning the constructors' in Singapore, before Lando Norris just about held on to defeat Max Verstappen to the drivers' by two points.

In contrast to McLaren, Red Bull decided to keep developing its RB21 machine, potentially costing it development time for the 2026 car with the huge radical changes coming for the new season, including active aerodynamics. 

Reflecting on McLaren's decision to stop developing, engineering technical director Neil Houldley explained how the team felt it had made the right decision. 

"If we had continued to develop in 2025, we would have certainly gone into 2026 slower than we're going to," Houldley told media, including RacingNews365. 

"We were looking for milliseconds; 30 milliseconds was a good upgrade at that point, so when you get to that sort of level, it was clear for us at the time [to stop development on the 2025 car].

"Other teams continued their development, and it certainly gave Red Bull some great gains towards the end of the year, but I still think we've made the right decision, and when we get to 2026, hopefully, that will be proved."