McLaren will introduce further improvements at the United States Grand Prix as they look to improve their car’s performance and avoid a resurgent Red Bull in the standings for the remainder of the season.
The reigning world champions remain third in the Constructors’ Championship with six rounds to go, but fell to fourth-placed Red Bull in the first of their late-season triple header.
While McLaren failed to score a podium in that series, Red Bull claimed four top-three finishes – including two wins for Max Verstappen – to reduce what had been a 76-point deficit to their rivals to just seven points.
McLaren’s official pre-Austin review described the team’s results over the past three events as “significantly below expectations” and that their 33-point haul from that run was “significantly lower than expected”.
McLaren now heads to a Circuit of the Americas track in Austin this weekend, where they hope to be better suited to their car’s strengths, which will be enhanced by some further revisions.
Rob Marshall, McLaren’s chief technical officer, said: “We are bringing a modest selection of upgrades for this event, aimed at improving some braking reliability and performance issues. We also have some minor floor changes to test.
“We’ve all seen how difficult it is to predict the relative performance of the top teams over the last five or six games.
“Obviously, there are a lot of factors at play here: cars getting better, cars adapting and drivers liking certain circuits among other factors. The last few races haven’t been great for us, but I think we’re getting stronger again and Austin is probably a better circuit for our car.
“Practice will be important in relating what we’ve seen in our development tools to the track.
“We’re still learning how to get the best performance out of this car. We’ve got the full range of corner types here, so getting the best balance for the whole lap will be our main focus.”
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McLaren team principal Andrea Stella reacts to the Sprint crash between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at the Singapore Grand Prix.
“They need to up their game”
McLaren’s cause in Singapore was not helped by losing eight points on the final lap of the Sprint when their cars collided after Lando Norris attempted an overtake on Oscar Piastri. Norris later apologized for the accident, admitting it was a thoughtless move towards his teammate at such a late stage in the short race.
The world champion said in the Austin team preview that “I take responsibility for my mistakes and learn from them”.
McLaren now return to the scene of a previous high-profile incident at Austin from 2025, when their two drivers collided on the opening lap of the Sprint in a chain reaction set off by Piastri colliding with Nico Hulkenberg, and have little room for a similar missed opportunity 12 months on.
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Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris collide at turn one after dramatic multi-car contact forces both McLarens to retire in the US Grand Prix Sprint!
Speaking at the edition of the GP after Singapore The F1 show podcast, Sky Sports F1 Bernie Collins said: “McLaren have had a few incidents during the year where they haven’t maximized their points.
“(In Singapore) Max Verstappen maximized the result, McLaren didn’t and there have been some weekends where McLaren didn’t maximize the result. This accident (in the Sprint) was a stupid example of that.
“For sure, I think if Hadjar hadn’t missed three races when Liam Lawson was in that car, Red Bull would have been ahead of McLaren. And that’s what McLaren know, they’ve been saved I think, at this stage, because Hadjar wasn’t in that car for three races and (Red Bull) weren’t scoring the points they could have scored.
McLaren has won the constructors’ championship in each of the last two seasons, but is in danger of finishing fourth this year.
“But now Red Bull are on the rise and they have to up their game if they are going to survive in that P3 position because it doesn’t look like it at the moment.”
Karun Chandhok added: “I think they probably know they now have the fourth fastest car, which is a bit worrying, and Red Bull is probably now the fastest car, if not the second fastest for most tracks.”
Sky Sports F1 United States GP live schedule
Thursday, October 22
18:25: F1 Academy Practice
20:00: Drivers’ press conference
22:30: F1 Academy Qualifying
11.10pm: Paddock uncut
Friday, October 23
18:00: First practice of the United States Grand Prix (session starts at 18:30)*
20:00: F1 show
21:45: Second Practice of the United States Grand Prix (session starts at 22:00)*
23.50: F1 Academy race 1*
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Check out some of the most dramatic moments that have happened at the United States Grand Prix.
Saturday, October 24
18:15: Third Practice of the United States Grand Prix (session starts at 18:30)
20:30: United States Grand Prix Qualifying*
22:00: UNITED STATES GRAND PRIZE QUALIFICATION*
12:00: F1 Academy race 2*
12.45: Ted’s qualifying notebook*
Sunday, October 25
17:00: Race 3 of the F1 Academy
18:30: Grand Prix Sunday: US GP Preparation*
20:00: United States Grand Prix*
10:00 p.m.: Checkered flag: US GP reaction
11:00 p.m.: Teddy’s Notebook
*also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 heads to the Americas for another treble with the United States Grand Prix in Austin, the first this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
