McLaren is preparing to enter one of the most important phases of its 2026 Formula 1 campaign, with a carefully planned two-step development programme designed to reduce the gap to Ferrari and Mercedes. While the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps will mark the debut of several important technical changes, the team’s biggest performance leap is expected to arrive one week later at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
After a first half of the season in which the MCL40 has struggled to consistently challenge Ferrari and Mercedes at the front, the Woking-based team has launched an aggressive development strategy. Spa-Francorchamps represents the first stage of that plan, while Budapest is expected to redefine the overall competitiveness of the car with a far more comprehensive upgrade package.
McLaren aims to close the gap to the front
The objective is straightforward: reduce the performance deficit to the championship’s benchmark teams through a development programme split into two distinct phases.
The Belgian Grand Prix will primarily serve as a validation event for several specific upgrades, allowing McLaren to gather valuable data before introducing a much larger package at the Hungaroring. That second phase is expected to have a significantly greater impact on the overall balance and performance of the MCL40.
During previous Formula 1 regulation cycles, McLaren established a reputation as one of the strongest teams at transforming its car throughout the season. This year, however, that recovery has proved considerably more difficult.
The first encouraging signs arrived in Miami, where the initial upgrades allowed McLaren to take a noticeable step forward, culminating in Lando Norris winning Saturday’s Sprint Race. Since then, however, Ferrari and Mercedes have continued to hold a performance advantage, while Red Bull has also remained capable of joining the fight at certain circuits.
Spa becomes McLaren’s development laboratory
The Belgian Grand Prix weekend will be particularly important from a technical perspective.
McLaren will introduce a revised rear wing configuration that will be thoroughly evaluated throughout the practice sessions. The primary objective is to collect as much data as possible to support development work for the upcoming races.
Alongside the aerodynamic changes, the team will also introduce the latest evolution of the Mercedes power unit.
This is not a specification designed to deliver a significant increase in outright power. Instead, the latest update has been developed with reliability as its main priority.
Mercedes first introduced this version on its factory cars at the Austrian Grand Prix, while Williams and Alpine adopted it one week later at Silverstone. McLaren, however, chose to delay the change in order to maximise the mileage available from the power unit components that had already been used earlier in the season.
That decision was far from accidental.
Throughout the 2026 campaign, the Woking-based team has had to manage several reliability concerns, including the battery-related issues that compromised both Lando Norris’ and Oscar Piastri’s weekends at the Chinese Grand Prix. Delaying the introduction of the updated specification allowed McLaren to optimise the rotation of its power unit components without unnecessarily accelerating the wear of the engine allocation.
Budapest will be the true test of McLaren’s progress
The decisive moment, however, is expected to come just one week later.
McLaren has confirmed that a major upgrade package will be introduced at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Although the team has not revealed the technical details of the new components, its communication strongly suggests that these will be far more substantial than routine refinements.
In its official statement, McLaren emphasised that the entire organisation is currently focused on maximising the car’s potential ahead of the introduction of the Budapest upgrades, highlighting just how important this stage of development is considered within the team.
If the package delivers the expected gains, Andrea Stella’s team could firmly rejoin the battle at the front of the Formula 1 field. Should the improvements fall short of expectations, however, the British outfit risks falling even further behind its rivals at precisely the moment when attention will increasingly begin to shift towards preparations for the 2027 project.
Neil Houldey urges caution ahead of Spa
McLaren Technical Director Neil Houldey also offered his assessment of the team’s current situation, while urging caution ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
“We are confident that this update will bring a little more performance to our car, but we are fully aware that, after a difficult British Grand Prix—particularly in terms of outright pace—this event will not be easy either, so we are not expecting major changes in terms of competitiveness.”
For McLaren, therefore, Spa-Francorchamps is not expected to be the race that transforms its season. Instead, it represents the first step in a broader development strategy, allowing the team to validate new components, introduce the latest Mercedes power unit specification and gather valuable information before unveiling what could become its most significant upgrade package of the 2026 Formula 1 season at the Hungaroring.
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