Lando Norris sees McLaren currently at the bottom of the top group – Team Principal Andrea Stella announces a few more updates for the MCL40 ahead of the season’s final stretch
McLaren heads into the final stages of the 2026 Formula 1 season in third place in the World Championship. However, World Champion Lando Norris warns that the team could still fall behind Red Bull in the World Championship. Currently, their lead over Red Bull stands at just seven points.
According to Norris, the problem is that McLaren is currently only the fourth-fastest team on the grid. Whilst he emphasises that, in the overall context, they are “closer” to the front of the field than they were at the start of the year, he makes it clear: “We can still keep up pretty well.”
“We’re still fighting for a place in the top four and almost for a podium finish. But we’re still too far off and the worst of the top four teams,” said the world champion, who currently sees McLaren trailing Red Bull, as well as Mercedes and Ferrari.
Things looked very different in the summer. Back then, Norris won two races in a row in Budapest and Zandvoort, and McLaren temporarily closed the gap to Ferrari to 52 points in the World Championship. Now, however, the Scuderia are in second place, 105 points ahead of McLaren once again.
For Norris, it is therefore clear that McLaren has slipped to last place in the internal pecking order of the top four teams. When asked whether this could be turned around by the end of the year, he replies: “That’s only possible if we bring in upgrades.”
This is because, at present, the MCL40 is too difficult to drive and simply isn’t fast enough. In this context, Andrea Stella reveals: “We are actually planning a number of upgrades. We hope that these will close the gap to the best cars and enable McLaren to fight for podium places under its own steam.”
Making significant progress is becoming increasingly difficult
The team principal emphasises that the updates are important in terms of the World Championship, but also explains: “We also want to review some of the fundamental concepts that will come into play with next year’s car.”
In other words, the new parts are not just intended to help secure at least third place in the World Championship in the short term. McLaren is also hoping to find an answer to the question of whether it has taken the right direction in its development. After all, this is already important with a view to 2027.
Stella explains that, after almost two years of development, it is no longer so easy to make progress in aerodynamics. Although the new Formula 1 regulations have only come into force this season, one must bear in mind “that development began on 2 January 2025”, says Stella.
Consequently, it has now become “complex” to achieve significant gains. “It might work out, but it might also go wrong. That’s why we wanted to test some of the fundamental aspects we’re taking into next year in practice,” explains the team principal.
“Whether we [mit den Updates] can fight for victory is something we’ll probably only see in the last three races, as the upgrades will be introduced gradually,” announces Stella. Officially, there are currently still six races on the calendar for the 2026 Formula 1 season.