McLaren make fresh upgrade decision as Red Bull gain sudden F1 upper-hand

McLaren is to unveil a raft of fresh upgrades in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix as it looks to wrestle back third in the constructors' from Red Bull.

Max Verstappen's victory in Mexico City, coupled with Isack Hadjar's ninth-place finish, allowed Red Bull to leap into third place in the constructors' on 382 points to McLaren on 365 - who only scored through Lando Norris's fifth place after Oscar Piastri lost his seventh due to a 10-second time penalty for colliding with Arvid Lindblad.

Red Bull has won three of the previous four grands prix, just as McLaren's MCL40 has dipped in competitiveness, with the winners of the last four constructors' titles now in a fight behind Mercedes and Ferrari for the bronze-medal position.

In a bid to regain the upper hand, the car will be boosted with a fresh raft of upgrades this weekend in Brazil. 

The front and rear wings are going to be upgraded, with "small floor components" also set to be brought. McLaren says "the aim is to unlock further aerodynamic performance and refine the car’s balance, supporting the ongoing push to strengthen competitiveness."

Reflecting on the upgrades, chief technical officer, aerodynamics, Peter Prodromou spoke of the hope of regaining some momentum - and also having one eye on the 2027 MCL41 machine.

"We’ve got some updates coming to the car across the front wing, rear wing and some floor components as part of our normal development cycle," he began.

"The aim is to make up ground, improve our performance over the remaining races and build momentum into next year. 

"São Paulo has been a good circuit for us in the past and is a fairly representative track, so we’re hopeful these upgrades can help us take another step towards the front.

"The season isn't over yet: these upgrades are designed to improve the car now and help us in our fight for third in the championship. 

"While the learning we take from these upgrades will feed into next year’s development, we also expect to carry over the concept of the new front wing into the launch specification of next year’s car."