McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has conceded the team cannot improve its Formula 1 car's handling characteristics "without fundamental changes", and those changes are not expected until 2027.
Every F1 driver has had to adapt to the new generation of cars and engines, often using unusual techniques to extract maximum performance. McLaren has also struggled with a handling issue throughout the season. As Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri adapted their driving styles to the V6 turbo hybrids, with their increased electrical power, the handling problem hampered the team's progress relative to frontrunning rivals. The issue seems to have hit Piastri harder than his team-mate because of their different natural driving styles.
Stella said he does not expect upcoming updates to improve the characteristic. "I think we need something more fundamental than simply adding some downforce to the car," he said, adding that a change would come at the earliest with the MCL41 for 2027.
After the Singapore Grand Prix, Norris described the car as "on a knife edge on every single corner." He said drivers must force the car in every way, with "no room" to let it do the work, and that the effort makes it nearly impossible to string together laps in qualifying. Stella said the car demands a level of driving intensity well beyond last year's, and that Piastri needed time to learn to force the car and to accept that driving fast does not always mean driving clean.
Source: Autosport F1 News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing