McLaren’s decline in the 2026 Formula 1 season has reached a worrying point after the United States Grand Prix, with the team scoring just 49 points across the last four races while Red Bull have drawn level on 355 points in the Constructors’ Championship. During the same period, Red Bull collected 125 points, Ferrari 116 and Mercedes 104, leaving the Woking-based team facing an increasingly difficult battle to recover its lost competitiveness.
The figures are particularly concerning for a team that, only a few weeks ago, appeared capable of challenging Ferrari for second place in the championship. Instead, McLaren have now fallen significantly behind the Italian team and find themselves level with Red Bull following Austin. The downturn is even more surprising because it follows a particularly competitive phase of McLaren’s season, suggesting that the problem is not a complete absence of performance but a gradual loss of ground relative to its rivals.
The United States Grand Prix confirmed those difficulties but also offered important clues about what is going wrong. Team principal Andrea Stella acknowledged that the MCL40 has considerably more potential than its qualifying performances suggest, while admitting that consistently extracting that performance has become one of McLaren’s biggest challenges.
McLaren’s MCL40 has the speed but struggles to deliver it consistently
“I think in the race we saw the potential that we thought we already had yesterday,” Andrea Stella explained. “Lando thought the car was capable of second place in qualifying, which was perhaps a little exaggerated, but the potential was there. The problem is that this year it’s very difficult to fully exploit it.”
That distinction is central to understanding McLaren’s current problems. The MCL40 does not appear to suffer from an outright lack of speed. Instead, its drivers are struggling to consistently access the car’s ideal operating window, particularly over a single qualifying lap when every centimetre of track and every fraction of available grip must be exploited.
Race conditions offer some relief because drivers naturally leave a margin to preserve their tyres over longer stints. According to Andrea Stella, McLaren’s race pace in Austin was comparable to that of Ferrari and Red Bull, although Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli operated at a higher level.
However, starting from the fourth row of the grid severely limits the opportunities to convert competitive race pace into strong results, particularly when the leading teams are separated by such small margins.
McLaren’s decision to attempt a one-stop strategy during the closing stages of the race reflected those circumstances. Following the same approach as its rivals would have left Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri trapped behind the cars ahead, so the team opted to explore a more aggressive alternative.
“With two stops, we would have remained behind. With one, we could hope for a safety car or see how far we could push on the hard tyres. We knew it would be very difficult to keep Max Verstappen and especially Charles Leclerc behind.”
The decision was therefore driven more by the need to create an opportunity than by any firm belief that the one-stop strategy offered the strongest overall race performance. McLaren were attempting to change the competitive situation rather than simply follow the established order.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri face different challenges with the MCL40
The Austin weekend also exposed an important difference between McLaren’s two drivers. Andrea Stella explained that the Circuit of The Americas has traditionally suited Lando Norris, whereas Oscar Piastri has generally found the venue more difficult. However, the explanation extends beyond the characteristics of the circuit itself and involves the contrasting driving approaches of the two competitors.
“Oscar’s strength is his ability to build performance. Once he has found his reference points, he can improve lap after lap. Here, however, every lap is different. Lando, on the other hand, has a great ability to adapt to the conditions, especially when the car is sliding.”
This distinction helps explain why the MCL40’s unpredictable behaviour can affect the two sides of the McLaren garage differently. A car that changes its responses from one lap to the next is particularly difficult for a driver who relies on stable reference points to progressively improve performance.
Lando Norris’s greater ability to adapt to changing grip conditions therefore became an important consideration during the race. McLaren decided to swap its drivers’ positions, allowing Lando Norris to attempt to attack the cars ahead.
Andrea Stella revealed that such a scenario had already been discussed before the Grand Prix. If Oscar Piastri was unable to maintain the pace of the competitors in front, the team was prepared to give Lando Norris the opportunity to make progress.
The decision reflected McLaren’s determination to maximise its collective result rather than allow the two drivers to remain in positions that restricted the team’s chances of recovering ground.
Andrea Stella puts McLaren’s recovery ahead of the Norris-Piastri rivalry
The decision to exchange positions also carries wider significance following the tensions between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at the Singapore Grand Prix. Andrea Stella has made it clear that McLaren’s immediate priority must be returning to the front of the field, with the management of the internal rivalry temporarily taking second place to the team’s overall competitiveness.
“We need to get Oscar and Lando back onto the front row, fighting for victory. Then we’ll manage the competition between them. Until that point, we all need to work together to bring McLaren back to the front.”
It represents a significant change in perspective. When a team is regularly fighting for victories, it can devote considerable attention to managing competition between its drivers. When it is struggling to remain competitive, however, decisions increasingly need to focus on maximising the combined result.
McLaren appear to have recognised that reality. The immediate objective is no longer simply ensuring that Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri compete fairly against one another, but restoring the performance required for both drivers to fight at the front again.
That approach is especially important given how quickly the Constructors’ Championship picture has changed. McLaren’s recent results have allowed Red Bull to close a substantial deficit, while Ferrari have strengthened their advantage in the fight for second place.
More McLaren upgrades planned for Brazil and Las Vegas
Despite the disappointing results, Andrea Stella confirmed that McLaren’s development programme will continue over the coming weeks. No significant new components are expected for the Mexican Grand Prix, but further upgrades are scheduled to arrive across the Brazilian and Las Vegas Grands Prix.
The team’s immediate objective is to return to consistent podium contention before recovering the level of performance required to challenge for victories. However, additional aerodynamic performance alone may not be enough to solve the underlying problem.
McLaren must also improve its ability to make use of the speed already available from the MCL40, particularly in qualifying. A car that can theoretically challenge for the leading positions but cannot consistently deliver that performance when it matters will inevitably lose valuable championship points.
The development battle has become increasingly intense across Formula 1. Ferrari introduced a substantial aerodynamic upgrade package at Austin, while several rival teams also brought new components to the Circuit of The Americas. An examination of the aerodynamic upgrades introduced by Ferrari, McLaren and their rivals at Austin illustrates how aggressively teams are continuing to develop their 2026 cars.
For McLaren, this competitive environment makes the challenge particularly difficult. Even when improvements deliver the expected gains, rival teams may be progressing at a similar or faster rate, preventing those developments from translating into better positions on the grid.
McLaren’s 49-point slump transforms the Constructors’ Championship battle
The statistics from the last four races provide the clearest picture of McLaren’s decline. While the Woking team collected only 49 points, Ferrari scored 116, Mercedes accumulated 104 and Red Bull secured 125.
That means McLaren scored fewer than half the points collected by either Ferrari or Mercedes, while Red Bull earned more than two and a half times McLaren’s total during the same period.
The consequences are significant. Ferrari have moved further ahead in the battle for second place, and Red Bull have now caught McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship, with both teams on 355 points following the United States Grand Prix.
Ferrari and Red Bull have followed different development paths, but both are currently achieving substantially better results. Mercedes, meanwhile, continue to capitalise on Kimi Antonelli’s performances despite the difficulties experienced by George Russell.
For McLaren, the danger is no longer limited to losing contact with Ferrari. The team now faces the possibility of compromising a championship position that appeared relatively secure only a few weeks earlier.
The upcoming development programme could provide an opportunity to reverse the trend, but Andrea Stella’s assessment makes clear that the challenge extends beyond finding additional peak performance. McLaren must develop a car that allows its drivers to access that performance consistently, particularly during qualifying, where poor starting positions are repeatedly undermining its race prospects.
After collecting just 49 points from four races and allowing Red Bull to draw level in the standings, McLaren have reached a critical stage of their season. The MCL40 may still possess considerable underlying speed, but unless that potential can be translated into stronger qualifying performances and consistent race results, the team’s position in the championship will remain under threat.
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