McLaren unleash another MCL40 upgrade blitz at Dutch GP

McLaren heads into the Dutch Grand Prix with momentum firmly on its side, and the Woking squad is showing no signs of easing off the development throttle.

Fresh from Lando Norris’s commanding victory at the Hungaroring, McLaren will roll out another package of upgrades for its MCL40 at Zandvoort, continuing a relentless push to extract even more performance from a car that has already established itself as a force at the front.

The latest changes are concentrated around the rear of the car and are designed to complete the upgrade package introduced in Hungary. Among the headline additions is a new rear wing, with McLaren appearing ready to race its own version of the increasingly prominent ‘Macarena’ concept for the first time, alongside revised rear brake ducts.

McLaren’s official weekend preview underlined the purpose behind the latest additions.

“This weekend will see the team introduce further aspects as part of its ongoing development pathway. These parts will be focused on the rear side, to complete the package introduced in Hungary, a new rear wing and new rear brake ducts,” the team stated.

“The aim will be to validate the new parts quickly, understand their contribution across the weekend and maximise every opportunity available.”

The upgrades arrive at a critical stage of the campaign, with McLaren acutely aware that its rivals are continuing to close in. The team has also made significant progress in understanding how to extract the MCL40’s potential after encountering difficulties earlier in the season.

Reliability always a prerequisite

Neil Houldey, McLaren’s technical director for applied engineering, believes that progress has provided an important platform for the second half of the year.

“We head into the Zandvoort weekend after finishing the final race before the shutdown with a win and a strong performance, but we are very aware of how close the competition is and how important reliability will be,” he explained.

“We have learned a lot in the first part of the season about how this car needs to be driven to extract performance and on containing the issues we faced earlier in the year.

“We have also worked hard as a team on continued development with some parts available this weekend focusing on the rear side, to complete the package introduced in Hungary with a new rear wing and new rear brake ducts. But we know other teams will bring developments too.

"Therefore, it will be another tough event, and our focus is on getting everything we can out of the car. If we execute well, we can put ourselves in the fight with the leading teams.”

Zandvoort proving a happy hunting ground

McLaren has plenty of reason to feel confident on the Dutch coast. The team has won the last two editions of the Zandvoort race, with Oscar Piastri triumphing in 2025 after Norris defeated home favourite Max Verstappen there in 2024.

Houldey is therefore looking forward to seeing whether McLaren can turn its latest development push into another strong result.

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“We look forward to getting back racing after the break,” added the British engineer.

“We are moving into an extremely demanding second half of the season and with 12 races still to come, the team’s attention remains firmly on our own development and performance as we build on the work completed in the first half of the season to target greater consistency in extracting performance from the MCL40.”

With another 12 rounds still to come, McLaren’s message is clear: the Hungarian victory was not a signal to ease off. If anything, it has given the Woking outfit even greater appetite to keep pushing.

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