McLaren is preparing to significantly reshape its start to the 2026 Formula 1 season with the first major updates arriving for the MCL40. These upgrades are scheduled to appear between the Miami Grand Prix and the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. The team led by Andrea Stella is aiming to close the aerodynamic gap and resolve critical issues related to the simulation of the Mercedes power unit in order to challenge and potentially overtake Ferrari in the competitive order.
McLaren, a complicated start
The British car is currently a step behind Ferrari and, in comparison with Mercedes, roughly two steps behind in certain areas, particularly when focusing on chassis performance and aerodynamic efficiency. Suzuka revealed some positive aspects of the MCL40, which managed to move ahead of Ferrari during a weekend where the SF-26 suffered a drop in performance due to circuit-specific characteristics that did not suit its aerodynamic profile.
Andrea Stella has repeatedly offered very honest and detailed technical assessments. The Italian team principal openly admitted that McLaren was lacking mechanical and aerodynamic grip through corners, both compared to the Mercedes W17 and the Ferrari SF-26. The first three Grands Prix of the season have not been particularly strong for the Woking-based team, but internally the trajectory appears more positive than the results suggest. While it may seem paradoxical, there are several factors that explain this difficult start to the championship.
Stella also clarified the main reasons behind McLaren’s difficult opening phase. First of all, the team focused its development resources on the final race of the 2025 season, a strategy that Ferrari did not follow in the same way. As a result, McLaren arrived in Melbourne far less prepared than it would have ideally wanted at the start of a new regulatory era.
MCL40, the initial disadvantage
Despite this, progress has already been made compared to Bahrain. It is also important to remember that the MCL40 is effectively the same car that was run on the first day of pre-season testing, as no major upgrades have yet been introduced. This was a deliberate decision by the team, following a development philosophy different from most of its competitors. The goal was to fully understand the aerodynamic platform of the car before building the next evolution steps on a stable foundation. At present, the MCL40 is delivering the expected correlation results.
The planned upgrade cycle for McLaren is considered highly aggressive. The engineers are convinced that the car can make a significant step forward during the month of May. This must also be considered in the context of McLaren being the reigning world champion, which means it had the least wind tunnel time and the greatest CFD restrictions under the current regulations. This is far from a minor detail in the complex landscape of the 2026 Formula 1 development race.
Taking everything into account, the British car has already shown encouraging signs with strong long-term potential. There is still a significant amount of work to be done, which is clear, but the fact that McLaren has already been able to compete ahead of both Ferraris—despite Ferrari not suffering from the same winter development restrictions—suggests a very interesting and evolving competitive picture.
McLaren, upgrades not only in Miami
As with all teams, the current break in the calendar represents a crucial opportunity to build a substantial upgrade package, which McLaren has already planned for both Miami and Montreal. These will be the first major development steps of the season and therefore extremely important for the direction of the championship. It is particularly notable that the podium achieved in Japan was secured using the original aerodynamic specification without major updates.
The potential is clearly present, and McLaren is positioning itself to play a major role in the coming months. The new package will be introduced between two Grands Prix also for logistical and regulatory reasons, as both weekends are Sprint events, meaning limited practice time is available. Unlike Ferrari, McLaren does not appear to have booked a dedicated track session for a full shakedown of the new upgrade package.
In such conditions, it would not be possible to complete a full data correlation process through proper track testing, but only to gather general indications regarding aerodynamic load levels. For this reason, the British team will effectively introduce the updated MCL40 directly during the first free practice sessions in Miami, even if only partially upgraded at that stage.
MCL40, the gap is also in simulation
McLaren has continued to work closely with Mercedes. The objective is to further optimise power unit management, a highly complex system that McLaren has been working with for a shorter period compared to the manufacturer itself. Andrea Stella is fully aware of this situation and recently highlighted that it was always a realistic expectation that teams capable of designing both chassis and power unit simultaneously would enjoy an advantage, especially in the early phase of the season.
In practical terms, one of the main current limitations concerns the integration of power unit data within simulation systems. When this integration is not perfectly accurate, correlation between simulation and real-world performance is weakened, and as a result, track feedback becomes less reliable. For this reason, McLaren is actively working to refine its simulation models to make them as close to reality as possible, an area in which Mercedes still holds a significant advantage.
Development work is also focused on software and energy management strategies, considering that Mercedes has already identified certain performance gains that McLaren is still in the process of implementing. These are relatively small adjustments, mainly related to how energy is deployed throughout a lap, but even marginal differences in this area can ultimately translate into significant variations in overall lap time and race performance.
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In summary, McLaren’s unexpressed potential offers a promising outlook for the upcoming Miami and Montreal rounds. By aggressively addressing aerodynamic grip and refining power unit simulation, the team is positioning itself to challenge Ferrari for the “best of the rest” spot behind Mercedes, signaling a context in flux that looks very enticing for the remainder of the season.
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