McLaren changes upgrade plan, checks speed deficit

McLaren has changed its upgrade direction, Formula1.com reported, while Autosport said the team is also investigating a straight-line deficit to Mercedes.

McLaren has changed its approach to upgrades, with team principal Andrea Stella confirming the shift, as reported by Formula1.com. The same report said the team should see the first results of that new direction in due course. Lando Norris sits fifth in the 2026 drivers' championship on 97 points, with Oscar Piastri sixth on 82.

Autosport reported that McLaren will investigate why it is losing around one-and-a-half tenths to Mercedes on the straights despite using the same power unit. Another Autosport report quoted Piastri after his seventh place in the Silverstone sprint, where he called the energy-usage racing dangerous. Norris, who has 11 Formula 1 wins and 16 poles, remains a key reference as McLaren assesses whether its revised development path can reduce that deficit.