Formula 1 may have a completely transformed McLaren at the Miami GP. After an irregular start in 2026, the team is betting on a practically new MCL40 to react.
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The change is important because the current champion team has not yet repeated last year’s level. With extra development time after calendar cancellations, the expectation is to reduce the gap to rivals.
According to Andrea Stella, the plan already foresaw a major update for this phase of the season. “We always intended to deliver practically a new car, especially from an aerodynamic point of view,” said the team principal, emphasizing that the schedule was maintained.
The director indicated that the changes go beyond Miami and continue to the next stages. “I can say that between Miami and Canada we will see a completely new MCL40,” he explained, reinforcing the size of the planned evolution.
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Even with the optimism, Stella avoided projecting an immediate change in the balance of power. He acknowledged that other teams have also evolved and stressed that the dispute will be defined by whoever managed to extract more performance in the same period.
McLaren arrives boosted by a podium in Japan and confident in the work done during the break. For Stella, recent progress shows that the team can take another step forward and become more competitive in the upcoming races.
