McLaren’s difficult 2026 Formula 1 season reached another worrying point at the United States Grand Prix, where Lando Norris finished fifth and Oscar Piastri seventh despite expectations that the MCL40 would be more competitive at the Circuit of the Americas. The team’s disappointing performance allowed Red Bull to draw level on 355 points in the Constructors’ Championship, leaving the two rivals tied in the battle for third place and raising questions about whether McLaren is already looking towards 2027.
The contrast with McLaren’s dominant 2025 campaign is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. At Austin, Andrea Kimi Antonelli secured victory for Mercedes ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, meaning all three of McLaren’s main rivals were represented on the podium. For a team that entered the new regulation era hoping to maintain its position at the front, that result was particularly disappointing.
McLaren’s 2026 F1 struggles continue despite expectations of an Austin recovery
The United States Grand Prix was supposed to offer McLaren an opportunity to recover some of its lost competitiveness. On paper, the Circuit of the Americas appeared to suit the characteristics of the MCL40, but the performance delivered over the weekend fell considerably short of expectations.
The extent of McLaren’s difficulties is not always obvious from the drivers’ post-race interviews. Lando Norris frequently accepts responsibility for mistakes made during a weekend, while Oscar Piastri tends to highlight the positive aspects of his performance, as he did following the Singapore and Austin Grands Prix.
However, the wider competitive picture is considerably less encouraging. McLaren’s current form has raised the possibility that the team may already be concentrating increasingly on next season rather than attempting to reverse its 2026 decline.
That remains a question rather than a confirmed change of development priorities. Nevertheless, the team’s position in the Constructors’ Championship demonstrates why abandoning the current campaign would carry significant consequences.
Lando Norris’s one-stop strategy rescues McLaren at the United States GP
If McLaren could take one major positive from Austin, it was the performance of Lando Norris and the decision to complete the race with a single pit stop. The strategy proved effective for the reigning 2025 Constructors’ Champions, allowing the British driver to maximise the potential of the hard tyre and gain several positions compared with his starting place.
Lando Norris eventually finished fifth, ahead of Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull, George Russell’s Mercedes and his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, who endured a largely anonymous afternoon in seventh position.
Viewed purely against Saturday’s qualifying result, fifth place represented a reasonable recovery. However, judged against the team’s wider ambitions and the competitiveness of its principal rivals, it remained an inadequate outcome.
The difference between the two McLaren drivers was particularly revealing. Lando Norris managed his tyres effectively and remained in contention for a podium position until approximately ten laps from the finish. His performance ensured that the team avoided an even more disappointing result.
However, the fact that a fifth-place finish can be considered the highlight of McLaren’s weekend demonstrates how dramatically expectations have changed since last season.
Oscar Piastri’s race pace exposes another weakness in the McLaren MCL40
Oscar Piastri experienced a considerably more difficult race, struggling to find the pace needed to challenge the cars ahead. George Russell encountered similar difficulties behind the Australian, with neither driver able to catch and pass Isack Hadjar.
That was particularly frustrating because the Red Bull driver was dealing with several electronic problems throughout the Grand Prix. Despite those difficulties, Isack Hadjar remained ahead of both Oscar Piastri and George Russell at the finish.
The contrast with Lando Norris illustrated how much McLaren depended on tyre management and strategy to secure a respectable result. Without the British driver’s effective handling of the hard compound, the team’s Austin weekend could have been considerably worse.
The performance also reinforced concerns about the MCL40’s underlying competitiveness. McLaren may still be capable of achieving encouraging results through carefully executed race strategies, but the car is struggling to match the outright pace of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull consistently.
McLaren upgrades and pit stop problems complicate its 2026 season
McLaren’s decline has been particularly striking given its dominance during the previous championship. The introduction of Formula 1’s new technical regulations has created significant difficulties for the Woking-based team, which has struggled to reproduce the competitive advantage it previously enjoyed.
The updated MCL40 has not always delivered the expected improvements. On certain occasions, the car has appeared to perform worse with the latest developments than it did without them, raising questions about the effectiveness of the team’s development direction.
Operational difficulties have added to those concerns. Slow pit stops have repeatedly affected at least one McLaren driver during race weekends, while unconventional strategic choices have increasingly become the team’s principal means of securing competitive results.
These weaknesses have created a situation in which McLaren appears vulnerable to being overtaken by its three main rivals in the competitive order. Without the advantages gained through strategy, the team increasingly looks like the fourth-fastest outfit on the grid.
Austin provided another example of that imbalance. While Ferrari’s strong performance on the hard tyres helped Charles Leclerc secure second place, McLaren relied on Lando Norris’s tyre management merely to finish fifth.
Whether that pattern continues through the remaining races will be crucial in determining McLaren’s final championship position.
McLaren and Red Bull tied on 355 points in F1 constructors’ standings
The consequences of McLaren’s poor form are now clearly visible in the Constructors’ Championship. Red Bull has eliminated its deficit over just a handful of races, leaving both teams level on 355 points following the United States Grand Prix.
That means McLaren will arrive at the Mexico City Grand Prix as a team attempting to regain an advantage rather than simply defending one. The battle for third place has become considerably more intense, with Red Bull’s recent improvements contrasting sharply with McLaren’s declining competitiveness.
Although third place rather than fourth might appear to be a matter of pride, the final Constructors’ Championship position carries substantial importance for Formula 1 teams.
A higher classification brings greater visibility and, crucially, a larger share of the sport’s financial rewards. The difference between third and fourth can therefore have meaningful commercial consequences even for an established organisation such as McLaren.
There is, however, a potential benefit to finishing lower. Under Formula 1’s Aerodynamic Testing Restrictions, commonly known as ATR, teams placed further down the Constructors’ Championship receive greater permitted aerodynamic development allocations, including wind tunnel running and computational fluid dynamics work.
Consequently, finishing fourth could provide McLaren with additional development opportunities for its next car, the MCL41. That would represent a small technical consolation, although it would hardly compensate for another disappointing championship result.
Could McLaren sacrifice its 2026 campaign to focus on 2027?
Unlike smaller teams facing more immediate financial pressures, such as Haas, McLaren is not in a position where the additional prize money associated with third place would necessarily determine its financial stability. Nevertheless, the commercial and sporting implications of its final championship position remain important.
The larger concern is that 2026 has failed to deliver the continuation of McLaren’s previous success that the team had expected. After dominating the preceding season, the Woking-based outfit has struggled to adapt to the new technical regulations and has increasingly relied on strategic decisions to compensate for weaknesses in its car.
McLaren will also lose the opportunity to carry the number one on its car next season, reflecting the end of its period at the top of the Drivers’ Championship. However, that symbolic change is arguably less important than the possibility of finishing fourth in the Constructors’ standings.
Such an outcome would be particularly disappointing for a team competing with what is widely regarded as one of the strongest power units on the grid. It would suggest that McLaren has failed to make effective use of the technical resources available to it under the new regulations.
One possible explanation for the team’s current direction is that attention is increasingly turning towards 2027. If McLaren has concluded that its 2026 performance deficit cannot be fully recovered, prioritising the development of the MCL41 could offer a more promising route back towards the front.
However, that approach would come at a cost. Red Bull has already drawn level in the Constructors’ Championship, and McLaren risks surrendering third place if its form does not improve over the remaining five races.
The team therefore faces a difficult balance between defending its current position and preparing for the next Formula 1 season. Finishing fourth after winning the Constructors’ Championship in 2025 would be a significant disappointment, particularly given McLaren’s expectations at the beginning of the year.
The only outcome that could make such a setback easier to accept would be a convincing return to competitiveness in 2027. For now, Austin has provided another reminder that McLaren’s problems extend well beyond one difficult race weekend, and the pressure to find a more effective technical direction is continuing to grow.
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