McLaren to upgrade MCL40 car at its bogey F1 track Las Vegas
Motorsport photo McLaren will introduce upgrades to its MCL40 at Formula 1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, with the new parts labelled as “the foundation for next year’s car”.
Key points
- “We know – we have seen this in Monza, we have seen this in Baku – that when the requirement is to develop top speed, not necessarily McLaren is the best car.
- The team launched its 2027 front wing concept in Brazil, with team principal Andrea Stella describing it as an improvement for driveability and predictability; McLaren returned to form at Interlagos, with Lando Norris clinching pole position and victory in wet conditions.
- “After the upgrades in Hungary, it was encouraging that we were in a position to win – we should have won Madrid, really,” Stella said, referring to the unfortunate timing of the Virtual Safety Car in Spain, which likely cost Norris the victory at Madring.
So, it's encouraging for the trajectory of McLaren that we seem to be able to transform our development into performance on track.” Las Vegas has not been a happy hunting ground for the papaya team.
Based on the MCL40’s specificities, Stella doesn’t necessarily expect the Nevadan track to favour McLaren this year, with full throttle down the near-2km Strip portion.
Additional details
- Lando Norris, McLaren Lando Norris, McLaren The following year, the eventual constructors’ champion qualified just sixth and eighth, uneventfully driving to sixth and seventh in the race, 27 seconds adrift of the top five.
- Back in 2023, McLaren had become a consistent podium contender, but both cars were out in Q1; Oscar Piastri scored a solitary point, while Lando Norris bottomed out and heavily crashed on lap three.
- “But having said that, we approach Vegas with some optimism because the car is faster now.
- This race will give us – and not [just] us but everyone, I think – a bit of understanding of how to use the tyres and where the car is good, where their car or our car is less good.
- Also, Vegas, we want to go there and have a good result, because it's been probably, of all the races in the calendar, the one that we've been struggling the most.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
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