McLaren unveils new wings at Brazilian GP to reclaim third and shape 2027 car

McLaren arrived at Interlagos for the Brazilian Grand Prix with a significant aerodynamic update package, introducing new front and rear wings as the Woking team targets a late-season recovery of third place in the constructors’ championship from Red Bull.

The revised front wing alters the chord length of all three elements: the mainplane’s chord has been reduced, while the central and uppermost elements have been increased. As a result, the wing pylons now mount to the middle section rather than the mainplane. McLaren believes the expanded upper element offers the best trade-off between straight-line drag reduction and cornering load, with only that uppermost plane affected when the wing is placed in straight mode. The mainplane also now feeds directly into the endplate, which transitions into the footplate and the vortex tunnel ahead of the front wheel.

At the rear, a revised wing and new beam wing — used to mount the assembly to the gearbox casing — aim to increase rear downforce and restore aerodynamic balance with the updated front end. A minor floor revision accompanies the package, which the team says delivers “better flow conditioning and resultant improvement of aerodynamic performance of the floor.”

Critically, McLaren has confirmed the updates are not purely a short-term fix. The data gathered at Interlagos will feed into the development of its 2027 car, making the Brazilian weekend a dual-purpose exercise in both championship positioning and longer-term programme building.

Lando Norris ran the new specification in Friday’s first practice session, while reserve driver Leonardo Fornaroli — standing in for Oscar Piastri — was assigned the old-spec car to generate baseline comparison data.

Piastri, speaking ahead of the weekend, offered a candid assessment of where McLaren’s MCL40 has struggled. “The car is tricky to drive; it has potential when you can drive it in the way it needs to be driven and not make any mistakes — then it can be very quick — but just doing that is too difficult at the moment,” he said.

The Australian acknowledged that Red Bull had set the development pace through 2026. “I think Red Bull this year has been probably the benchmark with that,” Piastri said. “The middle of the season was strong as a team and then obviously I think the others have outdeveloped us a bit since. We’ve probably outdeveloped some of our rivals but we’ve not been the benchmark this year like we have been the last couple of years.”

McLaren currently sits fourth in the constructors’ standings, with Red Bull holding third. The Brazilian Grand Prix represents one of the final opportunities to close that gap before the season concludes.