McLaren have announced “significant” upgrades to their car over the next two races as they bid to revive Lando Norris’ flagging title defence.
The reigning constructors’ champions have so far failed to keep pace with the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari this season, lagging 154 points behind the former in the standings, while Norris trails leader Kimi Antonelli by 82 points.
McLaren have only finished on the podium four times in Grands Prix this season, with Norris third in Barcelona most recently. The Briton was fourth in Silverstone, the most recent race, with teammate Oscar Piastri down in 11th.
But the team are hopeful that a new package, to be implemented over the course of the Belgian and Hungarian Grands Prix over the next two weekends, will give them a boost for the remainder of the season.
The team announced: “As part of the MCL40's development pathway, this weekend will see the introduction of a new rear wing which will be tested and evaluated in Friday's practice sessions at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
“Both MCL40 race cars will also be fitted with a new ICE unit, the third of the season, supplied by Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains that includes some different specifications introduced in order to improve the reliability.
“These made their debut with the works team at the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix and then with the other two customer teams at Silverstone.”
However, the team expects a bigger difference to made after “a significant upgrade package” is implemented at the Hungarian Grand Prix the following weekend.
Technical director Neil Houldey downplayed expectations before Spa, saying: “We're confident that this update will add a bit of performance to our car, but we are fully aware that after a difficult British Grand Prix, mainly in terms of pure performance, even this round won't be that easy, so we won't be expecting any big change in terms of competitiveness.”
After the race in Hungary F1 will take a four-week break before resuming in Zandvoort, the Netherlands in late August.
