McLaren reveal 'change of course' decision after studying F1 rivals

McLaren boss Andrea Stella has explained how the team's Hungarian GP upgrades marked a "correction of the course" of the MCL40 machine after studying F1 rivals.

Lando Norris used the new parts from Woking to devastating effect in Budapest, gliding to a first grand prix pole and win as reigning world champion, although he did win the Miami Sprint race.

McLaren had slipped back from class-leaders Mercedes and Ferrari over recent races, and had been leap-frogged by Red Bull with a lack of upgrades for Norris and Oscar Piastri with the team funneling its efforts into the Hungarian package.

RacingNews365's technical analyst Paolo Filisetti wrote of the upgrade that is was designed to fix a weakness in the underbody of the car and the relative lack of load distribution, which could be traced back to the decision to adopt a short wheelbase for the car, done to minimise the impact of the weight constraints for 2026.

This created instability in the car - something apparent at Silverstone when the car appeared on a knife-edge all weekend when exposed to the winds of the former RAF airbase.

Detailing his thoughts over the new upgrades, Stella explained how by studying the Mercedes W17, Ferrari SF-26, and Red Bull RB22, McLaren came to the realisation of what was needed to fix its own MCL40.

"I think the improvement from a competitiveness point of view can be entirely ascribed to the upgrades that we [delivered in Hungary]," Stella told media, including RacingNews365. 

"We were thinking that this lap time step would not necessarily have been enough to be on pole position at the Hungaroring, and definitely did not think they would be enough to have such a strong pace in the race. 

"Honestly, I still believe that if we want to be in a position to fight for victories consistently in the future, we need to keep our focus on delivering more upgrades. That is the plan. But we are not naive. 

"We know that this will be the plan for all the teams, so I think, like it's always been in this 2026 season, it's a matter of a race of upgrades, and the good news is that McLaren is now back in this race of upgrades while fighting for the lead. 

"But I expect that the car that will be the best car at the end of the season will keep adding tenths of a second in the next 11 races, probably as much as half a second, so there is definitely a lot of work ahead of everyone, not only McLaren. 

"I think the main aspect of these upgrades is that they introduce some parts that follow a slightly different concept in some areas of the car. We realised after we delivered the MCL40, and also to some extent looking at the concepts that were present in some cars that were faster than us, we realised that we needed to correct the course. 

"We know that when McLaren understands which direction to take, then I think we are in a condition to develop quite effectively."