By: We are witnessing plenty of strange things in this closing phase of the season. One of them is the latest upgrade package that McLaren chose to bring to the track during the Brazilian weekend. It was always clear that, during the 2026 season—the first under a major regulatory overhaul—we would see the engineers working extensively to improve the performance of their cars.
An unprecedented choice
It has not been easy for the engineers to alternate between understanding the package, trying to optimise it, introducing upgrades and then starting all over again. It has been a constant loop for every team throughout the season.
McLaren, however, made a surprising choice by debuting its 2027-specification front wing at Interlagos. Of course, it is not yet the wing it will run on 14 March in Bahrain for the opening race of the world championship, but it has already revealed a great deal about the direction it has chosen to pursue over the coming winter months.
Arrogant McLaren, Stella wins his bet
A move, a choice, arrogant perhaps, but one that has already paid off. After a very strong middle part of the year, followed by disappointing performances once it left Europe, the Woking team played a joker to keep the championship open, at least against Red Bull. We must acknowledge that it worked. Norris’s victory was commanding. Lando took pole position on Saturday and, on Sunday, displayed race pace that meant he was never threatened. He experienced some difficulty only during the first stint, before recovering the situation brilliantly.
In our view, however, it was an arrogant move for two reasons. Firstly, saying that it was fitting solutions with an eye on 2027 was like placing perhaps unnecessary pressure on itself. The package had to work. That was the first sin of arrogance. The fact that the team won its bet is further proof of how well the group assembled by team principal Andrea Stella works.
The second sin, however, was revealing itself—showing its cards, at least some of them, to the other teams. As far as we can remember, it is something we have never seen any team do, at least in recent history. Either McLaren wanted to remove some doubts, or it is so confident in its work that it does not fear the curious eyes of its rivals.
Unlike the first sin, we will only be able to comment on the consequences of the second in March. There are therefore a few months to wait, but at least the end of the season will certainly benefit from it.
Cover and in-article photos by Finlay Williams / WHYOUT Images
All the news, photos, weather, session times and times from the Brazilian GP 2026
