McLaren opts for the future
McLaren stopped major upgrades to the 2025 car. The team is now focusing all resources on 2026. According to team boss Andrea Stella, going ahead would have greatly disadvantaged the 2026 project. McLaren wants to become a future champion. For that, a competitive 2026 car is needed.
Red Bull chose a different path
Instead, Red Bull continued to develop in full this year. In late September, at Monza, many changes came. A new front wing and a modified floor design visibly changed performance. Since that upgrade, Max Verstappen won three out of four races. The modifications brought more downforce and better tyre usage. Verstappen was also able to tune the car more to his liking.
Mexico update: smart reuse
For the Mexico Grand Prix, Red Bull once again brought a modified floor and a change to the engine cover. The team calls this a “make-from” update. That means they reused an existing design rather than making something entirely new. Paul Monaghan, chief engineer, praised the work from Milton Keynes. He said the team members were able to do this even though they are working on 2026 at the same time.
Why McLaren acted differently
McLaren did not bring any major upgrades since July. The last major change was a completely new floor at the British Grand Prix. The team felt that further development of the 2025 car was of little benefit. Aerodynamically, that car was already almost in its maximum development. Any small gains cost a lot of time and resources.
- McLaren wants to win championships in the future.
- The 2026 car delivers much bigger benefits every week.
- As champions, McLaren has less wind tunnel and CFD time under the rules.
- The yield from additional 2025 development was limited.
Limitations by testing rules
F1 rules give fewer wind tunnel and CFD hours to the winning team. McLaren won last season. As a result, it had less testing time than some competitors in 2025. Stella said it takes weeks to add one percentage point of aerodynamic efficiency. For 2026, the team is adding much more downforce every week. Therefore, they decided to shift their resources to next year.
Red Bull's motivation and risk
Red Bull says it was struggling with its development methods for a year. The through-developments in 2025 would simultaneously serve as validation of their tools and methods. Successful upgrades will help this season and also give confidence for 2026. McLaren believes this would make Red Bull willing to sacrifice some of the 2026 project. McLaren simply saw less benefit in piercing the 2025 project.
Conclusion
The choice is a strategic consideration. Red Bull gambled on quick wins this year and cleverly reused existing solutions. McLaren opted for longer term. It sacrificed short-term upgrades to come back stronger in 2026. Both strategies have logical reasons and clear risks.
EN 
NL 
DE