McLaren’s first package of MCL40 upgrades helped return the team to winning form at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where Lando Norris converted pole position into victory. Team principal Andrea Stella has revealed that the breakthrough followed a change in development direction and McLaren’s most productive Formula 1 weekend yet with Mercedes High Performance Powertrains.
The result represented a major step forward for a team that had struggled to reproduce its front-running form consistently during the opening half of the 2026 season. However, Andrea Stella urged caution, stressing that the Hungaroring has distinctive characteristics that are not easily replicated at most other circuits on the calendar.
Further evidence will therefore be needed before McLaren can draw definitive conclusions about the MCL40’s progress. The Hungary package was only the first stage of an upgrade programme that is scheduled to conclude in Baku, meaning the car should continue to evolve during the second half of the campaign.
“There are so many variables,” Andrea Stella explained. “From the type of tyres being used and their level of wear to the temperatures. I therefore don’t want to draw any hasty conclusions, but it seems that our advantage in the race was slightly greater than it was in qualifying. That is also because the margin in qualifying was only 12 thousandths.”
That tiny margin had allowed Lando Norris to end Mercedes’ run of pole positions in Hungary. McLaren then demonstrated even stronger pace over the race distance, suggesting that the first MCL40 upgrades had delivered more than a one-lap improvement.
McLaren MCL40 upgrades introduce a different technical concept
The satisfaction visible throughout the McLaren garage after the Hungaroring race reflected the significance of the result. The Woking team appeared to have reclaimed a leading role that had largely been missing since the beginning of the season.
There had been a notable breakthrough in Miami, but that performance remained an isolated success. McLaren’s progress in Hungary was more significant because it emerged from a revision of several fundamental concepts on the MCL40 rather than from circuit-specific circumstances alone.
As has become standard practice throughout the Formula 1 paddock, studying the leading cars played an important role in identifying where McLaren needed to improve. The aerodynamic department subsequently worked to establish a more productive direction for the remainder of the MCL40 development programme.
“I think the main aspect of these upgrades is the introduction of components that follow a slightly different concept in certain areas of the car,” Andrea Stella confirmed. “By also observing the solutions adopted by some cars that were faster than ours, we realised that we needed to change direction.”
“There was a huge effort from the aerodynamic department to understand which development path we needed to follow. And we know that, when McLaren identifies the right direction, it is capable of developing very effectively.”
Hungary therefore appears to represent a new beginning rather than the conclusion of McLaren’s recovery. With the team now confident that it has identified the correct technical path, development of the MCL40 will continue at full speed in Woking.
McLaren plans further upgrades before Baku
The Hungarian Grand Prix provided an encouraging indication that McLaren can return to the fight at the front, but Andrea Stella believes one successful weekend will not be enough. The team must continue bringing new components if it wants to challenge for victories across a wider range of circuits.
“If we want to be able to fight consistently for wins, we must continue introducing further upgrades,” Andrea Stella clarified. “That is our plan, but we know it will be the same for all the other teams.”
“As we predicted at the beginning of the 2026 season, we are in the middle of a development race. The good news is that McLaren is back in it, fighting for the lead again.”
The next stages of the upgrade programme will help establish whether the Hungaroring performance can be repeated elsewhere. McLaren’s long-term objective is not simply to produce occasional victories, but to make the MCL40 competitive enough to challenge regularly throughout the second half of the season.
McLaren and Mercedes HPP deliver their best weekend together
The technical upgrades were not the only decisive factor behind McLaren’s return to victory. The team also made important progress in extracting performance from the Mercedes power unit, an area that had caused unexpected difficulties since the beginning of the year.
McLaren’s senior figures had repeatedly highlighted the challenge of exploiting the power unit’s full potential. Reliability problems also affected the team during the first half of the season, but the central issue was consistently finding a way to maximise the performance available from the Mercedes package.
Andrea Stella therefore made a point of recognising the contribution of Mercedes HPP after the Hungarian Grand Prix.
“I thanked the team for the work that allowed us to bring the upgrades to the track, but an important thank you must also go to the Mercedes HPP personnel,” the McLaren team principal said. “There were several discussions and, afterwards, excellent work was carried out.”
“I believe the Hungarian weekend was the event at which McLaren and HPP collaborated best to squeeze every single thousandth out of the power unit. Securing pole position by only 12 thousandths confirms how every detail can make a difference, and it is right that, at the end of such a positive weekend, the contribution of our partners is also recognised.”
The extremely narrow qualifying margin illustrated the value of that collaboration. With Norris beating his closest rival by just 0.012 seconds, even a small improvement in power-unit deployment or overall optimisation could have determined whether McLaren started first or from the second row.
Lando Norris victory provides a vital confidence boost
McLaren also needed a significant injection of confidence after spending the previous two seasons near the front of the Formula 1 field. Lando Norris’s return to the top step was particularly meaningful because his previous victory had come at last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
Leading a race again appeared to restore the British driver’s enthusiasm. Norris was so committed to maintaining his pace that he ignored repeated radio instructions to ease off, even after establishing control of the Grand Prix.
“We were simply managing the race,” Andrea Stella revealed. “There was no need to use the kerbs, something we had explicitly recommended several times. We also did not want to place the car under unnecessary mechanical stress.”
The request was probably influenced by the alarm created when Oscar Piastri retired at the side of the circuit with a transmission problem. The Australian driver’s failure was the only major disappointment of an otherwise excellent McLaren weekend, ending the team’s hopes of securing a double podium.
Norris nevertheless completed a commanding victory, later describing the performance as one of the best drives of his career. His success marked McLaren’s first win of the 2026 season and confirmed the competitive potential of the upgraded MCL40.
Oscar Piastri retirement complicates McLaren’s constructors’ challenge
Oscar Piastri’s retirement carried particularly significant consequences for the Constructors’ Championship. McLaren now sits 159 points behind Mercedes, making a comeback extremely difficult even with a substantial part of the season still to come.
The transmission failure turned what could have been an outstanding team result into a missed opportunity, as McLaren’s double-podium hopes disappeared in Hungary. Even so, the team understands how quickly the competitive picture can change during the second half of a Formula 1 campaign.
McLaren experienced such a turnaround from the opposite side only last year. After the Hungarian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen trailed Lando Norris by 88 points. Ten races later, when the chequered flag fell in Abu Dhabi, Norris prevailed by only two points.
That experience offers McLaren both encouragement and a warning. The 159-point deficit to Mercedes remains a formidable obstacle, but sustained technical progress, stronger collaboration with Mercedes HPP and consistent race execution could allow the team to apply increasing pressure during the remaining rounds.
The full Formula 1 championship standings underline the scale of the challenge, while the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix classification shows how Piastri’s retirement prevented McLaren from fully capitalising on its renewed pace.
Hungary did not prove that the MCL40 will be a winning car at every circuit, and Andrea Stella remains determined to avoid premature conclusions. It did, however, show that McLaren’s decision to change development direction has produced a meaningful step forward. With further upgrades planned through to Baku, the Woking team is once again part of Formula 1’s battle for leadership.
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