McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella has confirmed that the team will introduce a “completely new car” across the upcoming Miami and Canadian Grands Prix, aiming to close the gap to current pace-setters Mercedes as Formula 1 returns to North America.
After a challenging start to the 2026 campaign—impacted by last season’s late championship fight and the integration of an all-new Mercedes power unit—McLaren found themselves on the back foot, even missing the start of the Chinese Grand Prix. However, rapid progress in understanding their package was evident in Japan, where Oscar Piastri finished a strong second behind Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli.
Taking advantage of a unique five-week break in the calendar, McLaren focused on refining a comprehensive upgrade package, with the new MCL40 set to debut at Miami and further updates to follow in Canada. “In our intent, there was always the idea to deliver a completely new car—especially from an aerodynamic upgrades point of view—for the North American races so we could keep up with this plan,” Stella explained during a media event at the team’s Woking headquarters.
He noted that the revised calendar provided additional development time: “The fact that the calendar has been changed helped a little bit, like I’m sure it helped all the other teams that could work more streamlined towards upgrading the car rather than being busy with racing.”
Stella emphasized that while the MCL40 will be significantly altered, similar steps are expected from rival teams, making the forthcoming races a true test of relative development. “We also have some performance to recover if we look at Mercedes, and to some extent Ferrari as well, but we are quite happy with the development that we’ve been able to manage in the background. Hopefully we should be able to see a slightly more competitive MCL40 in Miami and then in Canada.”
Currently sitting third in the Constructors’ Championship, 89 points behind Mercedes, McLaren has also taken strides in maximizing the performance of their new power unit. “We have made a significant step forward compared to where we were in Australia… now later in the season I think we have filled this gap, and we should have all the tools that are required to extract the most out of the power unit.”
With momentum building and a major upgrade on the horizon, McLaren is poised to rejoin the fight at the front as Formula 1 heads to Miami and Montreal.
