McLaren expects to continue upgrading the MCL40 after the summer break, with technical director for applied engineering Neil Houldey revealing a potentially significant package is targeted for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
McLaren applied a successful upgrade package at the Hungarian Grand Prix, with Lando Norris having gone on to win his first race of the 2026 season last time out.
McLaren upgrades set to continue with potential ‘significant’ Baku update
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The team showed a significant improvement in pace at the Hungaroring before the summer break, with Oscar Piastri leading polesitter Norris for the first half of the race before Norris took over. Piastri later retired.
With McLaren having yet to sustain a challenge against Mercedes and Ferrari, sitting 152 points off the summit at the halfway stage, the reigning champions are set to continue their push after the summer break.
In a season where development has proven substantial, with new regulations taking hold this year, McLaren will continue to look for improvements to challenge.
After its potential planned upgrades in Baku, the team will take a view on whether or not to pursue its current car further or turn its full attention to next season.
“At the moment, we’ve got smaller upgrades arriving at the next sequence of events, and then potentially something more substantial for Baku,” Houldey told a McLaren Q&A.
“After that, it really will depend on whether we find something substantial in aero after the summer break, and whether we think there’s value in doing an end-of-season package or fully switch to next year’s car.”
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A balancing act teams have to strike every season is when to say ‘enough is enough’ in trying to add to its current package, with attention turning naturally at this time of year to what comes next.
The trade-off between updating the current car and designing its new challenger is a point teams have to decide to their best interest, and Houldey hinted that Azerbaijan will not be the last update placed on the MCL40 this year – though added this year’s upgrade cut-off has not yet been decided.
“It’s an open point at the moment,” he replied.
“We’ll be looking at where we are, where our competitors are, and where we see the opportunities. I think there’s a good chance we’ll have upgrades beyond Baku that can dig more performance out of this car, without impacting 2027.
“It’ll be things like I just mentioned, that can be bolted-on, or bonded-on, rather than the big, wholesale bodywork upgrades, but still areas in which there’s good performance opportunities there for the taking.”
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