McLaren has no intention of giving up its world championship crown easily. The Woking-based team hopes to replicate its impressive technical comeback from 2023, but this time the starting conditions are considered even more promising.
Unlike three years ago, the team does not believe it needs to abandon or radically change its design philosophy. The limitations seen on the MCL40 so far have not been caused by a fundamentally wrong concept, but rather by a development and upgrade schedule that has differed significantly from its main rivals.
First developments arrive in Miami after four months
The papaya team began the season with a two-fold gap to Mercedes. On one hand, the exploitation of the Brixworth power unit has not matched that of the Silver Arrows, particularly in energy management, while the MCL40 has also suffered on the aerodynamic side.
“At McLaren we all know that we need to improve the aerodynamic efficiency of the car, particularly downforce,” Andrea Stella explained during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend.
Within Woking, there is confidence in the car’s ability to work well with the new Pirelli tyres, with the lack of grip mainly attributed to aerodynamic shortcomings rather than mechanical limitations.
However, it is important not to underestimate the work carried out by the aerodynamic department led by Peter Prodromou. McLaren is the only front-running team that has introduced almost no updates so far, racing in Suzuka in the same specification as the Barcelona pre-season test package.
Even more surprising is the fact that, despite this situation, the team had not planned to introduce major upgrades at the cancelled April races, as Stella revealed:
“To be honest, we did not have major upgrade plans for Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. We were targeting a later point after those two events. Our development path has not been significantly affected.”
McLaren preferred a gradual approach, initially extending the development phase of the MCL40 for as long as possible, even planning to debut the car two days late in testing.
The team then took its time to gather data, understand the car, and observe competitors before committing to a larger upgrade package. When it arrives in Miami, it will be the first significant development step in four months.
“Good things are happening with development,” Stella commented. “I expect the car to improve significantly in the coming races.”
The concept is the right one
The reigning world champions believe they can close the gap to the frontrunners, having already achieved a similar recovery three years ago.
“I think there is a substantial difference compared to 2023,” Stella noted. “The car we have now is a solid platform. If anything, it is underdeveloped, but there is nothing fundamentally wrong with it from a conceptual point of view. It simply needs more development, following the design guidelines we established.”
In 2023, McLaren introduced a major upgrade package in Baku in April, which effectively represented a conceptual shift. Simulations at the time suggested the original MCL60 concept did not have the potential to go beyond fourth or fifth-best team status by the end of the season.
“We had to go back to the drawing board and redesign the conceptual flow field we wanted, revising the geometry quite extensively. For this car, I believe it is more about accelerating development in line with the principles we believe are correct.”
The MCL40 project, set in motion in April 2024, clearly offers strong development potential, but McLaren has chosen not to rush its upgrade path.
The team decided not to introduce updates before Miami, maximising wind tunnel time to develop a large, integrated package rather than a collection of smaller parts. This approach has also helped reduce budget cap pressure, allowing more resources to be deployed later in the season.
Strong tyre management remains a strength
While waiting for upgrades, the MCL40 has already retained one of its predecessor’s key strengths. Suzuka was the first race this year where thermal degradation became the limiting factor, a condition the papaya car managed well.
Part of this strength comes from the rear suspension, an evolution of the 2025 design, as well as the wheel rim design and brake duct layout, which help cool the tyres from within.
Front tyre graining, however, remains a chronic weakness for McLaren cars, highlighted further by the new Pirelli tyres, which are more sensitive to mechanical wear than previous specifications.
The team hopes to improve this area by increasing aerodynamic load through upcoming upgrades, while also reducing the MCL40 closer to the minimum weight limit.
McLaren’s fight back against Mercedes will also depend on improving power unit utilisation. At the start of the season, the papaya team suffered from being a customer team, unable to fully understand all the nuances of the Mercedes power unit at the same level as a works operation.
These limitations affected simulation accuracy and energy management strategies, but McLaren has steadily improved as its understanding has grown.
The goal is to put increasing pressure on Mercedes, provided reliability issues do not return after the Chinese Grand Prix setback, which also limited Lando Norris’s preparation during Suzuka practice sessions.
The championship standings currently show a deficit of 47 points in the drivers’ standings and 89 points in the constructors’ standings, but the feeling inside Woking is that McLaren still has many cards left to play.
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