McLaren hard at work to correct the MCL40 concept
McLaren is gradually recalibrating its development direction for the MCL40. The team in Woking is focusing primarily on aerodynamics and tires, two macro-areas that are deeply intertwined. The reigning world champions are currently refining their approach to the 2026 Pirelli tires, while several upcoming upgrades are being developed around a new front wing that embodies a completely fresh aerodynamic concept. Before even focusing on pure performance gains, McLaren is attempting to alter how the car operates on track, partly to resolve the braking issues highlighted by its drivers.
The central role of the new front wing
Over the recent rounds, the championship-winning team has dedicated significant attention to the new front wing introduced in Canada, which was initially shelved for the race after balance issues emerged during practice. The squad subsequently made several aerodynamic and mechanical adjustments to the wing for both Monaco and Barcelona. At the Spanish Grand Prix, they finally observed a strong correlation with their factory simulation tools, prompting them to greenlight its use. “We wanted to understand the track behavior of the front wing a bit better compared to our development tools,” commented Team Principal Andrea Stella.
This trackside trial does not necessarily point to wind tunnel or simulation correlation flaws. As the Team Principal explained, grid competitors this year are introducing updates as soon as they leave production, sometimes rushing them to track to immediately capture performance gains and accelerate the learning process. “As soon as they are ready, we fit them to the car, because we want to learn as much as possible about the new parts and how they behave. As a consequence of the regulation change, the aerodynamics of the cars are not yet very mature,” Stella noted.
In reality, this specific front wing was never expected to deliver a massive leap in lap time on its own, representing instead the baseline for a broader technical evolution. Revolutionizing the front wing means fundamentally restructuring the airflow interacting with the rest of the chassis, forcing the entire car to operate differently. When asked directly if this new assembly previews a complete concept change for the entire MCL40, Stella remained intentionally vague. However, on another occasion, the Italian engineer confirmed that McLaren is building its future upgrades directly around this component, stating that it was important to characterize it very well because there will be numerous developments based on this front wing.
The technical reset
Correcting the core concept of the MCL40 does not automatically mean completely changing its external bodywork shapes, but rather shifting how the package operates as a whole. It is no coincidence that Andrea Stella prefers not to isolate individual performance areas during his technical breakdowns. “We know that we have great opportunities to improve the car from an aerodynamic standpoint and how it interacts with the tires,” he explained. For instance, the Team Principal believes McLaren must develop the project to better exploit the unique traits of the 2026 Pirelli rubber. “I don’t think there is a huge difference in what the tires need [compared to last year]. There might have been a small change due to the fact that they are smaller. However, rather than the tires having changed radically, we need to design the car ourselves to meet their demands,” he clarified.
Last season, McLaren was the grid’s golden benchmark when it came to snapping tires into their ideal thermal window and managing them over extended grand prix distances, but the new technical regulations forced a change in philosophy. “There were design aspects that we wanted to reset for reasons that have to do not only with the tires, but also with other parameters. Now we are gradually evolving toward what we think is the right thing for the tires. It was a reset we were forced into while designing an entirely new car, which created extra demands that we had to satisfy all together to start a new project. Now we are starting to develop and refine the areas where the biggest opportunities lie,” Stella revealed.
The tire warm-up dilemma
Stella has repeatedly highlighted the operating limits of the MCL40 regarding tire management. “At the moment, we are not as competitive as we were in 2025 in terms of preparation and tire degradation, and it is a clear objective for development,” he admitted. Barcelona demonstrated that when the goal is simply containing thermal degradation and preventing overheating, McLaren is closely matched with Mercedes. Instead, the real difficulty for the world champions lies in generating sufficient tire temperature under specific low-energy conditions, such as those encountered in Montreal and Monaco. In Canada, Oscar Piastri noted that he never managed to hit the correct operating window for his compounds.
Switching on the new Pirelli rubber is proving considerably more difficult across the board than it was last season. The 2026 construction is stiffer due to elevated minimum pressure mandates, while the cars generate less overall downforce, particularly when rear wing energy recovery systems open up on long straights. Compounding the issue, the need to harvest electrical energy prevents drivers from pushing hard during their out-laps, leaving them unable to put enough energy into the tread structure. Nailing this preparation phase proved critically difficult in Monaco and Montreal, two smooth, low-energy circuits accompanied by low ambient tracks temperatures.
During these specific events, McLaren struggled noticeably more than their direct rivals due to the inherent characteristics of the MCL40 chassis. “The MCL40 is very gentle on the tires. In part, it’s how it was designed, but in part, it’s an aspect we want to improve. When there are events where you need to be good at putting energy into the tires, we struggle,” Stella acknowledged. This explains why the design office is evaluating structural changes to alter the car’s mechanical behavior, fully aware that increasing raw downforce would automatically aid their cause.
Driver difficulties behind the wheel
As it stands, the MCL40 is a car lacking necessary total downforce and grip, a deficit that causes severe handling difficulties during combined braking and corner entry phases. “The point is that we can’t do two things at once: we either brake or we steer, there’s no middle ground,” Lando Norris stated bluntly. Here, the field of aerodynamics once again directly intersects with tire physics. Within the garage, there is a distinct feeling that the 2026 Pirelli compounds lack the compliance of their predecessors when transitioning from heavy longitudinal braking loads to lateral cornering forces.
While the Italian tire supplier has not observed this specific phenomenon in their data, both parties agree that unlocking higher downforce loads would significantly improve the mechanical grip produced by the contact patch. In Barcelona, the MCL40 proved highly competitive through high-speed sweeps like Turns 3, 9, and 14, but suffered heavily in low and medium-speed corners. Crucially, it is precisely in that lower speed threshold where modern championships are won, and where McLaren built its formidable foundations in 2024 and 2025. The Woking-based team originally climbed to the top of the sport after a major conceptual shift initiated in 2023, and history may well repeat itself during this current development cycle.
In conclusion, McLaren’s current development path centers on a fundamental technical reset to optimize the MCL40’s interaction with the 2026 Pirelli tires and aerodynamic platform. By addressing the front wing philosophy and working to resolve the low-speed handling limitations raised by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, Andrea Stella’s squad is laying the groundwork for a systematic conceptual shift to reclaim its place at the very front of the grid.
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