McLaren alone in bringing upgrades to F1 Brazilian GP

McLaren has continued its development push for the São Paulo Grand Prix, but no other team has brought a single upgrade to Interlagos.

McLaren’s development comes with a heavy focus on 2027.

McLaren bring significant upgrade to Brazil

Brazil marks the end of the penultimate triple-header of the 2026 F1 season. Despite just three rounds remaining on the slate, the drivers’ championship being decided, and the constructors’ battle all but concluded, teams are still pushing development.

This is due to the regulations remaining relatively stable into 2027, meaning that teams can get a clear idea of the direction of travel or, perhaps more valuable, understand what doesn’t work.

For Interlagos, McLaren is the only team to bring upgrades, and it is a substantial package.

An entirely redesigned front wing, new rear wing assembly, new beam wing, and a modified floor, have all been disclosed on the official FIA documentation, with all these elements openly chasing performance rather than reliability gains.

Ahead of the weekend, chief technical officer, Aerodynamics, Peter Prodromou, said: “We’ve got some updates coming to the car across the front wing, rear wing and some floor components as part of our normal development cycle.

“The aim is to make up ground, improve our performance over the remaining races and build momentum into next year. São Paulo has been a good circuit for us in the past and is a fairly representative track, so we’re hopeful these upgrades can help us take another step towards the front.

“The season isn’t over yet: these upgrades are designed to improve the car now and help us in our fight for third in the Championship. While the learning we take from these upgrades will feed into next year’s development, we also expect to carry over the concept of the new front wing into the launch specification of next year’s car.”

McLaren currently sits fourth in the constructors’ table and remains within touching distance of Red Bull, but has fallen back in recent weeks as Max Verstappen has returned to winning ways – the Dutchman victorious on three of the last four weekends.

There will be a sharp focus on the number of spare parts McLaren has been able to manufacture, given the nature of the Interlagos layout often creates numerous incidents across a weekend. With heavy rain expected on Saturday, the challenge will only increase further.

Read next: Oscar Piastri to miss Brazil GP FP1 as McLaren junior steps in