{"id":562462,"date":"2026-03-25T03:14:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T03:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/562462\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T03:14:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T03:14:13","slug":"mclaren-boss-announces-major-f1-upgrades-as-ferrari-and-mercedes-put-on-red-alert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/562462\/","title":{"rendered":"McLaren boss announces major F1 upgrades as Ferrari and Mercedes put on red alert"},"content":{"rendered":"

McLaren<\/a> team principal Andrea Stella has revealed when we might see an improvement from the team, following a dismal start to the 2026 F1 season. <\/p>\n

\n2025 world champion Lando Norris is currently sat down in sixth in the drivers’ championship<\/a>, while his team-mate Oscar Piastri is yet to have even started a grand prix in 2026. <\/p>\n

\nPiastri crashed out ahead of his home race in Australia<\/a> on the laps to the grid, while both Norris and Piastri were unable to start the Chinese GP because of issues with their cars.<\/a> <\/p>\n

Article continues under video<\/p>\n

\nEven when McLaren have been on track challenging, they have looked behind the pace of the Mercedes<\/a> cars and Ferrari<\/a>s, with Norris finishing fifth in Australia. <\/p>\n

\nNow, Stella has offered an update on the team’s start to the season, and when things could start to look a little more rosy for them. <\/p>\n

\n“In Australia, 50 per cent of the deficit was due to poor engine utilisation,” Stella told media at the Chinese Grand Prix. “The other 50 per cent was due to cornering performance. <\/p>\n

\n“In Shanghai, we managed to reduce the engine performance gap somewhat. But it’s still just as large in the corners. The car’s foundation is solid and well-developed. Now, we simply need to improve overall performance. <\/p>\n

\n“We don’t expect a radical change at the next race in Suzuka. The first major upgrade package is planned for Miami.” <\/p>\n

\nF1 2026 Regulations: Every new rule and car change explained<\/a> <\/p>\n

Can McLaren have another stunning turnaround?<\/p>\n

\nThrow it back to the start of the 2023 season, and McLaren looked like they were one of the worst teams on the entire F1 grid. <\/p>\n

\nBut the work that Stella and the team did throughout the season meant that by the end of 2023 they were claiming regular podiums, and by the end of 2024, they were constructors’ champions. <\/p>\n

\nThe team are now looking for another turn around in their fortunes, albeit not quite so stark. <\/p>\n

\nThey look like they could be the third-fastest team on the grid this year, but it’s hard to tell due to their lack of consistent running so far. <\/p>\n

\nThe gap to Ferrari is big, however, and the gap to the dominant Mercedes team is even bigger. Norris will need the upgrades in Miami to be the shiniest of all silver bullets if he is to challenge for the title once again in 2026. <\/p>\n

\nREAD MORE: BMW make decision on F1 return<\/a><\/p>\n

Related\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has revealed when we might see an improvement from the team, following a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562463,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,913,2736,44,1383,85],"class_list":["post-562462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-mclaren","tag-mclaren-f1","tag-news","tag-sam-cook","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=562462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/562463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}