McLaren will introduce another aerodynamic upgrade package for the MCL40 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, while its revised rotating rear wing — known internally as the H-Wing — is also set to return in Baku. The circuit does not appear ideally suited to the car on paper, but McLaren left Madrid with considerably more encouraging signs than the Spanish Grand Prix result suggested.
Lando Norris lost a victory that had appeared firmly within his grasp in Madrid when the Virtual Safety Car changed the strategic picture after McLaren had shown clear superiority during the opening stint. The Woking team now wants to establish itself as one of the major forces in the second half of the 2026 season, and Baku will provide another important test of how far the MCL40 has developed.
McLaren faces another important MCL40 test in Baku
On paper, the Azerbaijan street circuit should not showcase the MCL40’s strongest characteristics. McLaren has generally been at its best through medium and high-speed corners, while Baku places far greater emphasis on long straights, aerodynamic efficiency and slow-corner performance.
Norris himself has acknowledged that the narrow streets of the Azerbaijani capital may expose areas where McLaren is less comfortable than at other venues. The circuit combines extremely slow sections with one of Formula 1’s longest full-throttle runs, creating a difficult compromise between downforce and straight-line efficiency.
Nevertheless, McLaren emerged from Madrid with more confidence than the final classification might suggest. After an uncertain Friday, the MCL40 impressed on both Saturday and Sunday through the slower corners of the third sector.
The race also delivered another positive sign. Despite internal concerns before the start, the MCL40 proved particularly effective at managing graining during the opening phase, helping Norris establish a commanding lead before the Virtual Safety Car transformed the Spanish Grand Prix.
Madrid offered encouragement over McLaren’s low-speed weakness
That does not mean all of McLaren’s weaknesses have suddenly disappeared. At Monza, the team’s shortcomings in aerodynamic efficiency and energy management compared with Mercedes were clearly visible.
It is also true that McLaren chose a higher-downforce configuration in Madrid, particularly with the rear wing, which helped the car through the slower sections. Even so, its performance in the Spanish capital was reassuring because it fitted into a wider development trend that has continued throughout the season.
McLaren has steadily worked to reduce the MCL40’s weaknesses while retaining the medium and high-speed strengths that have traditionally characterised its cars. The process has helped Norris become an increasingly regular threat at the front, even if Mercedes continues to set a formidable benchmark.
Baku will now offer a very different examination of the same progress. McLaren will introduce new components in particularly sensitive areas of the car, with the aim of generating additional aerodynamic load while doing so more efficientl
Rob Marshall says Baku will offer McLaren another valuable test
Andrea Stella had described Monza as an important litmus test for the MCL40, but Baku brings its own challenges. McLaren Chief Technical Officer Rob Marshall believes the variety of demands around the Azerbaijan circuit should give the team another useful reference point.
“We’re still learning something new about these cars at every race, and this season we have both overperformed and underperformed compared to our expectations at different events,” Marshall explained.
“Baku will provide another valuable test of the MCL40 across a very different range of characteristics. Energy management and deployment will be particularly important, as will tyre and brake management with the cars arriving at Turn 1 after the long straight with these areas relatively cold.”
Energy deployment is likely to be one of the most important performance factors across the weekend. The enormous flat-out section towards Turn 1 means teams must carefully balance how electrical energy is harvested and deployed without compromising acceleration or leaving the battery depleted too early.
McLaren continues development as Mercedes prepares Malaysia upgrade
McLaren also knows it cannot afford to slow its development rate. Mercedes is expected to introduce its substantial second upgrade package of the season in Malaysia, adding further pressure on its rivals to keep bringing performance to their own cars.
McLaren’s strength, however, has not simply been the number of upgrades produced, but the effectiveness of those developments. That has been a recurring feature of the team’s progress across recent seasons.
Technical Director Neil Houldey had already indicated before the summer break that McLaren was considering a more substantial development step for Baku after a sequence of smaller upgrades.
The Azerbaijan package therefore forms part of a longer-term programme rather than a one-off response to Madrid. McLaren wants to continue improving the 2026 car while extracting knowledge that can also contribute to future development.
McLaren H-Wing returns in updated form at Azerbaijan GP
One of the most visible changes in Baku will be the return of McLaren’s rotating rear-wing concept, which the team calls the H-Wing.
The system was first tested during practice in Hungary before being developed further, with modifications made to the actuator levers. It was subsequently raced at Monza, where the low-drag benefits of the solution were particularly relevant.
McLaren then left the H-Wing aside in Madrid because the characteristics of the Spanish circuit favoured a different rear-wing configuration. Baku, with its long straight and greater emphasis on aerodynamic efficiency, is expected to provide a much more suitable environment for the concept.
The rotating wing changes configuration between the cornering and straight-line phases, helping the car reduce drag when maximum top speed is required. That makes it particularly valuable at circuits such as Baku, where teams need downforce through the tight sections without paying too large a penalty on the main straight.
McLaren focuses H-Wing resources on low-downforce specification
Formula 1 teams must carefully decide how to allocate their production and development resources, and McLaren has chosen not to adapt every rear-wing configuration to work with the H-Wing system.
Instead, the team has invested in adapting only its low-downforce specification, where the rotating solution can provide the greatest performance benefit. On more conventional and twisty circuits, where the advantage of the rotating wing is smaller, McLaren decided not to devote additional resources to producing a compatible high-downforce version.
That was the approach taken in Madrid, where the team returned to the more conventional rear wing featuring three ribs on the endplates. That specification had originally been introduced at Zandvoort to increase downforce and proved better suited to the Madring configuration.
Baku will show whether McLaren’s Madrid progress translates
The central question heading into Azerbaijan is whether McLaren’s encouraging low-speed performance in Madrid can be reproduced on a circuit that also places far greater demands on efficiency and energy deployment.
The MCL40 has already demonstrated that its development curve is moving in the right direction, while Norris showed in Madrid that McLaren can challenge Mercedes on outright race pace. However, Baku combines several characteristics that have previously exposed the car’s weaker areas.
The new aerodynamic package and revised H-Wing are designed to improve precisely that balance. If McLaren can preserve its cornering gains while reducing the efficiency deficit seen at Monza, Baku could provide another indication that the gap to the Mercedes W17 benchmark is continuing to shrink.
Leave a Reply