After a stuttering start to the 2026 Formula 1 season, McLaren is preparing to detonate its own reset button – rolling out a “completely new car” when the circus lands in North America next week.
The sport’s opening round in Melbourne felt like a cold shower for Woking. Lando Norris crossing the line a distant fifth and a double-DNF in China due to technical gremlins left the papaya faithful wondering if the team had lost its way in the new regulatory era.
But following Oscar Piastri’s revitalized podium in Japan last time out, McLaren team boss Andrea Stella has confirmed that the squad isn't just bringing "bits and bobs" to the upcoming rounds; they are effectively tearing up the script on their aerodynamic philosophy.
A ‘completely new car’
This isn’t just a B-spec – it’s a philosophical shift. A transformation born from necessity after the team’s bruising opening stretch.
Now, with Formula 1 heading to the glitz of Miami and then to high-speed test of the Canadian Grand Prix, McLaren is preparing to roll the dice – aggressively.
“In our intent, there was always the idea to deliver sort of a completely new car, especially from an aerodynamic upgrades point of view, for the North American races,” Stella told reporters on Wednesday.
“Obviously, the fact that the calendar has been changed sort of helped a little bit, like I'm sure helped all the other teams that could work more streamlined towards upgrading the car rather than being busy with racing.
“But I could say overall that across Miami and Canada, we will see an entirely new MCL40."
No illusions, no excuses
If this sounds like a silver bullet, Stella is quick to shut that narrative down. McLaren may be bringing a new weapon – but so is everyone else.
“I would like to stress that this is what I would expect of most of our competitors,” he said.
“So not necessarily it's going to be a shift in the packing order, it will be effectively just a check who has been able to add more performance within the same time frame. And we also have some performance to recover if we look at Mercedes and to some extent Ferrari as well.”
It’s a straight fight. No hiding place. Yet beneath the caution lies quiet confidence.
“But we are quite happy with the development that we've been able to manage in the background,” the Italian added.
“So hopefully we should be able to see a slightly more competitive MCL40 in Miami and then in Canada, considering that the last race was already a decent competitive performance in Japan.
“So we definitely look forward to the next races.”
Pressure, pride – and a point to prove
McLaren has been here before. Written off. Counted out. Then suddenly – resurgent.
The team’s stunning mid-season revival in 2023 still lingers in the paddock memory, and Stella knows exactly what that says about the DNA of this group.
“We take quite a bit of pride internally at McLaren that we managed to turn things around in a continuity of regulations,” Stella explained.
“So we had kind of less know-how, we needed to generate IP, we needed to generate the solutions to gain a performance and competitive advantage, and since 2023 we managed to do it.
“This was something that we definitely wanted to crystallise in terms of our own achievement and consolidate the success that we've been able to produce.”
But 2026 is different. New rules. New uncertainties. A harder test.
“At the same time, while for sure we would have liked to continue with the same regulations because we were starting from a competitive position, we sort of wanted to test ourselves. We wanted to test our level of maturity, our level of ability to generate new know-how when there's a change, a reset of the regulations,” Stella continued.
“So while slightly uncomfortable, it's actually a challenge that we welcome. It's a challenge that will give us a measure of where we are effectively as a team.”
And perhaps most telling of all – McLaren isn’t shying away from the struggle.
“I have to say that even some of the challenges that we started with in terms of the start of the season, with a little bit of a mixed bag, kind of make the overall test even more probing, but even more interesting.”
Read also:
Weeks of quiet development. Months of recalibration. All converging on two races that could redefine McLaren’s season.
“We are enjoying it, we look forward to show on track what we've been able to produce in the ground over this month, especially the last couple of months,” Stella concluded.
“I think they've been quite positive in terms of development of the car in the ground. Hopefully we will see this in Miami, Canada and the following races in terms of development.”
A “completely new car.” A reset disguised as an upgrade. And a team ready to find out if its boldest gamble pays off. In Formula 1, reinvention is risky.
But for McLaren, standing still was never an option.
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via X and Facebook
