The papaya-clad McLaren team will have a revised car at the Hungarian Grand Prix, with a new aero package that includes a revised floor. This is the first part of a change of concept that will be continued with further updates when action resumes after the summer break at Zandvoort in late August.
While Mercedes has consistently led the way in 2026, the pecking order behind the Formula 1 World Championship leaders has been impacted by the ebb and flow of aero updates. McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull have all been closely matched as the year progresses, swapping advantages on a weekly basis.
McLaren is eyeing a major step in Hungary this weekend as the team brings a new package. In recent races, McLaren has fallen off the pace somewhat and has generally lagged behind Ferrari. It was a case of unfortunate timing that a resurgence in Spa last weekend coincided with a costly grid penalty for Lando Norris, who lost spots in the lineup due to new power unit control electronics.
View Price on AmazonHe had to take it somewhere, and Spa is a track where overtaking is possible, and you can move up the field. What the team perhaps didn’t anticipate was that the car proved to be very competitive in Belgium, and for much of the weekend Norris was behind only Kimi Antonelli. He could well have qualified second, but a mistake on his final lap—and a mega tow for Max Verstappen from teammate Isack Hadjar—left him in third.
The 10-place grid penalty demoted him to a frustrating 13th. It left everyone in the camp wondering what might have been, had he been able to start from close to the front. “I have to say that throughout the weekend, when I saw Lando, like, second in every practice session, I was thinking to myself the penalty is a bit in the way at this circuit,” team principal Andrea Stella said after qualifying.
In the race, Norris managed to recover to seventh place, which was a decent outcome. “We are very encouraged by the pace that Lando was able to deliver today,” said Stella. “I think with him starting in the natural position, third, and based on what we saw today, the car had the pace in the race to contend for podiums.”
Source: roadandtrack.com
