Why McLaren won't turn off its 2026 F1 car development just yet
McLaren is continuing to develop its 2026 Formula 1 car despite a difficult start to the season, following a successful upgrade package in Hungary. The team attributes its early-season struggles to a late-stage development push for the previous year's car and a strategic concept correction.
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This provides insight into the high-stakes engineering and strategic trade-offs required to remain competitive in elite motorsport.
Having started the 2026 season on the back foot, McLaren is showing signs of what made this iteration of the storied team so successful in the first place over the past two years.
True to its successful strike rate with in-season upgrades in 2024 and 2025, McLaren's latest upgrade package in Hungary, featuring a revised floor and the latest iteration of its front wing, was another significant step forward building on previous updates in Miami and Montreal. It gave its drivers a chance to fight for victory, with Lando Norris claiming his and the team's first grand prix win of the campaign.
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