McLaren is eager to find out if the decision to halt the development of their 2025 car earlier will yield the expected results for the 2026 Formula 1 season. This comes after their championship win in the constructors’ category at the Singapore Grand Prix and a closely contested drivers’ title that went down to the wire at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which Lando Norris won by a mere two-point margin over Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing.
In contrast to McLaren, who stopped developing the MCL39 as soon as they secured the title in Singapore, Red Bull continued to work on their RB21 car until the end of the season. This strategy may have impacted the time available for Verstappen’s team to focus on the significant regulatory changes coming into effect in 2026, such as innovations in active aerodynamics and major changes to power units.
Neil Houldley, McLaren’s technical director, explained that the team believed they had made the right decision in halting the development of their 2025 car: “If we had continued development in 2025, we would certainly be going into 2026 slower than we will be now,” Houldley stated. According to him, the team was seeking very small improvements, such as thirty-thousandths of a second, and at that stage, it was already clear that the best strategy would be to focus on the future.
Although other teams, such as Red Bull, continued to develop their cars, which gave them some advancements towards the end of the season, Houldley remains confident that McLaren made the right choice: “When we get to the start of the 2026 season, we hope that this decision will be validated,” the technical director concluded.
Now, the British team waits to see if their early focus on the 2026 car will bring the expected fruits in the new Formula 1 season.
