Lando Norris has expressed doubt over whether McLaren's fresh aerodynamic components for this weekend's Sao Paulo Grand Prix will address the fundamental handling difficulties that have plagued the MCL40 throughout the season. According to Sky Sports, the British driver remains sceptical that the new front wing, rear wing and floor elements will translate into improved drivability, even as the team battles to retain third position in the Constructors' Championship.
The Woking outfit has struggled to maintain competitiveness in recent rounds, with Norris attributing the decline to being outpaced in development by Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari. McLaren's preview confirmed the team entered Brazil 17 points behind Red Bull in the constructors' fight for third, following Norris's fifth-place finish in Mexico and Oscar Piastri's 13th-place result after incurring a 10-second penalty.
When asked about the upgrades ahead of last weekend's Mexico City race, Norris offered a measured assessment of their likely impact.
They are just to add performance. I don't think it will make it any easier to drive. Maybe there's a chance it makes it harder. For this you always leave it to the experts. I give my feedback, I say what I want, what's difficult. The engineers and aerodynamicists are the clever ones who turn my comments into lap time. They are doing a good job and continuing to work hard.
Despite the current struggles, Norris's season has included notable highs. He secured back-to-back victories in Budapest and Zandvoort either side of the summer break, and came agonisingly close to winning the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid before an unfortunate Virtual Safety Car intervention cost him the race. However, since McLaren introduced upgrades in Baku during September, the team has failed to challenge at the front of the grid.
The 24-year-old acknowledged that the car's performance has improved with each upgrade package, yet remains frustrated by its inherent characteristics.
The car has been horrible, difficult to drive the whole season. Just other teams have brought a lot more upgrades since and improved a lot more than what we have - nothing more than that.
Norris, currently sixth in the Drivers' Championship, has sought to reframe the season in a more positive light despite the recent downturn.
The team are still doing a good job, considering we were 1.5 to one second off at the beginning of the year. The fact we won almost three races was a pretty sizeable achievement in itself, so we have had a pretty good year, if you want to look at it from that perspective.
He emphasised that McLaren's ambitions remain high, but acknowledged the context of their campaign.
Of course we hold ourselves to a very high level and want to win everything we can. We started a long way behind at the beginning of the season and did a good job to catch up, better than the majority of any other team on the grid. Normally it's me looking at it from a negative way, but now I'm looking at it from a positive way. We want more, especially when we had a taste of success in the middle of the year.
Defending the season's narrative
McLaren's grip on the Constructors' Championship appears to be slipping away, with Mercedes poised to claim the title this Sunday if they outscore Ferrari by at least three points. The Brackley team would secure back-to-back championships, ending McLaren's two-year reign at the top.
Norris has rejected any suggestion that the season represents a failure for the team.
I certainly wouldn't put this year at all in the direction of saying it's a failure. I think that's completely the wrong mindset to have, especially when we had to work so much on last year to win a world championship.
The driver pointed to the resource allocation decisions that shaped McLaren's 2026 campaign.
We knew we were going to pay the price, especially when you've got a bigger regulation change than ever in Formula 1. When you want to be able to drop everything and spend more time on something, it was a time we couldn't do that, because we had a Constructors and Drivers' Championship to win, so I'm more than happy that that was the sacrifice we took this year.
Norris also highlighted the structural disadvantage McLaren faced as a customer team to Mercedes. The complexity of the new power units meant that manufacturers with their own engines—Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari—gained a significant advantage.
The first races were very tough. As a customer team to Mercedes, that obviously made things much tougher, so even if we had the same car, they would have beaten us. You've got all these little things that add up to make it a tougher season than ideal.
He stressed that the team's race victories earlier in the campaign should be viewed as a major accomplishment given their starting position.
I think what made it tough was the fact we won races this season, which already I thought was a huge achievement in itself, to go from where we were at the beginning of the season to winning two, almost three races. I see that as a pretty huge success from where we were. What's hurt is the fact we've kind of drifted away from that, and more just other teams have brought big upgrades and improved in better ways than what we have over the last couple of months.
Technical changes and driver lineup adjustments
McLaren's aerodynamic chief Peter Prodromou confirmed that the new front-wing concept is expected to carry over to next year's car, suggesting the team views the Brazil upgrade as a foundation for future development. Reserve driver Leo Fornaroli was also scheduled to drive in Friday's first practice session, replacing Piastri for his final mandated rookie outing.
The upgrades represent McLaren's continued push to close the gap to the front-runners, building on the earlier improvements introduced at Austin and the minor adjustments made in Mexico City. The team had previously targeted further upgrades for Brazil and Las Vegas after struggling to compete at the front in recent races, with Mexico seeing only minor changes to the MCL40.
Context from the championship battle
The 2026 season has already seen significant developments in the drivers' championship. Kimi Antonelli clinched the 2026 drivers' title with third place at the Mexico City Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen won that race, marking a significant moment in the season's narrative.
What happens next
The São Paulo Grand Prix is scheduled for Sunday, November 8, at 17:00 GMT (14:00 local time), with qualifying taking place on Saturday, November 7. The weekend represents a crucial opportunity for McLaren to demonstrate whether their latest upgrades can reverse the recent trend and position them competitively as the season enters its final stages.
Practice One begins on Friday at 15:30 local time, followed by Practice Two at 19:00. Saturday's Practice Three is scheduled for 14:30, with qualifying commencing at 18:00 local time. The race will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1.
