Revealed: How McLaren transformed itself into dominant F1 champions

When discussing the competitiveness of a car as dominant as the McLaren MCL39, it is common to ask what upgrades have propelled the machine to become the F1 benchmark. 

It is usually down to the combination of original design characteristics and subsequent upgrades, and it is important to stress that as far as McLaren is concerned, success is not built overnight, but a long process which has laid the foundations for the engineers to build upon. 

This premise is necessary to effectively put a date on when McLaren started towards building the best car on the grid, which comes with the upgrade introduced at the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix.

That upgrade focused on the vehicle dynamics, a different front suspension geometry and aerodynamics, with a further development to the underbody and wings being completed next time out at Silverstone. 

Later in 2023, a further upgrade to the MCL60 was introduced in Singapore, with new sidepod inlets which effectively increased the area underneath, a feature retained on the title-winning 2024 MCL38. 

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The Miami upgrade

But this only began to show an increase in performance at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix, which targeted the underbody and wings once again. 

Starting from the front-wing, the outwash effect of the airflow was increased to optimise the lower flows in the central section of the floor.

Aeroelasticity is one area where McLaren has been able to build a gap over its rival, both in terms of the front and rear-wings, introduced in the United States and Baku in 2024, respectively. 

That rear-wing in particular was extremely effective in pushing the regulations with the invention of the 'mini-DRS', but it wasn't just about 'tricks'.

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Change in the details

The arrival of Rob Marshall from Red Bull in January 2024 unlocked new design and manufacturing methodologies, but Marshall also brought the precious know-how that had been lacking and guided Red Bull to its crushing 2023 campaign. 

This has been evident on the MCL39 since the beginning of 2025, with an extreme front suspension set-up, which is effective as it is impossible for rivals to copy in-season. This element, characterised by a very high angle of the upper wishbone, could become a common feature on many 2026 cars. 

One upgrade in particular, which must be considered successful on the MCL39, concerns the upgrade introduced in Austria, where the geometry of the front suspension's pull-rod was slightly modified.

The linkage that determines a different KINGPIN angle of the front wheels was modified as the turning radius increased. Essentially, the tweak was to provide Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri with great sensitivity in the front-end on initial corner entry. 

This is the upgrade which provided the 'split' between Norris and Piastri, with the former taking the new upgrade whilst Piastri stayed with the older configuration, finding it more suited to his driving style. 

Across the 2025 season, most of the interventions on the MCL39 made by McLaren have been on dynamics as opposed to pure aerodynamic ones.

The car was derived from the previous concepts of wing elasticity, with a new front-wing design being introduced at Imola in response to the Spanish GP clampdown from the FIA on flexi-wing, and the new design did not compromise performance.