McLaren's updates for F1 Brazilian GP revealed with eye on 2027
by Jake Boxall-Legge · AutosportThe Woking team is also aiming to reclaim control of third in the F1 constructors' championship from Red Bull
McLaren has revealed its Brazilian Grand Prix updates as it looks to make a late recovery of third place in Formula 1's constructors' championship, introducing new front and rear wings for the Interlagos race.
The team says that this will feed into the development of its 2027 car, hoping that the revised aero package instils a fraction of improved driveability into an oft-recalcitrant MCL40.
A new front wing has changed the dimensions of each of the three elements. The mainplane, the lowest of the three, has had its chord length reduced and the central element has had this increased. Therefore, the wing pylons now mount to the middle section of the wing. The uppermost wing plane's chord length has also been increased, and this will be the only element affected by the application of straight mode.
Evidently, the team considers this the best trade-off between straightline and cornering performance, and increasing the effective area of the upper element should allow it to trim off a similar level of drag along the straights.
Elsewhere around the wing, the mainplane now feeds into the bottom of the endplate, which then transitions directly into the footplate and the vortex tunnel in front of the wheel.
McLaren has also introduced a revised rear wing, aiming to increase rear load and offer the balance with the aero at the front. This comes with a new beam wing, used to mount the wing to the gearbox casing.
The team has also registered a minor floor update, which it says "result[s] in better flow conditioning and resultant improvement of aerodynamic performance of the floor."
Lando Norris ran the new updates in FP1, while reserve Leonardo Fornaroli - stepping in for Oscar Piastri - was tasked with providing baseline data with the old spec.
"I think our rate of development has been pretty reasonable, but I think Red Bull this year has been probably the benchmark with that," Piastri said of McLaren's progress through 2026. "Compared to where we started the year, the middle of the season was strong as a team and then obviously I think the others have outdeveloped us a bit since.
"I think the biggest thing is just the car is tricky to drive; it has potential when you can drive it in the way it needs to be driven and not make any mistakes - then it can be very quick - but just doing that is too difficult at the moment.
"That's probably the biggest thing that holds us back, but I think our development, we've probably outdeveloped some of our rivals but we've not been the benchmark this year like we have been the last couple of years.
"We've obviously got some new bits this weekend as well which is hopefully going to help for sure. We know that ultimately we set the benchmark for development in the last couple of years, and in Formula 1 everyone tries to outdo each other pretty quick, so we're constantly getting better at our game."
None of the other teams have officially registered any updates for this race.
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