Ferrari will contest the 2026 Brazilian Grand Prix without any newly declared upgrades to its SF-26, while McLaren has taken the unusual step of introducing four aerodynamic developments at Interlagos. The FIA’s official technical submission for the São Paulo weekend identifies McLaren as the only team to have registered new components, with changes covering the front wing, rear wing, beam wing and floor.
The contrast is particularly striking at this stage of the Formula 1 season. With the championship approaching its conclusion, all ten of McLaren’s rivals, including Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull, have declared no new developments. McLaren, meanwhile, has opted for a coordinated aerodynamic revision intended to improve airflow management and increase the efficiency of the downforce generated by its car.
Rather than introducing a minor circuit-specific adjustment, the British team has presented a package affecting several interconnected aerodynamic surfaces. The extent of the changes makes McLaren’s approach stand out at a point when development activity across the rest of the grid appears to have largely slowed.
Brazilian GP F1 upgrades: Why Ferrari and Mercedes have brought no new parts
The FIA’s upgrade declaration for Interlagos reflects the changing development priorities across Formula 1 as the 2026 championship moves towards its final rounds.
With attention increasingly shifting towards the following season, most teams are concentrating on extracting performance from their existing packages rather than introducing additional hardware. The emphasis has moved towards refining set-ups, optimising the components already available and preparing for the next development cycle.
Ferrari is among the teams following this approach. No new aerodynamic or mechanical developments have been declared for the SF-26 at the Brazilian Grand Prix, meaning the Maranello team will continue working with its existing specification.
That does not prevent adjustments to the car’s configuration during the weekend. Changes to aerodynamic settings, ride height and other set-up parameters remain part of normal preparation, even when no new components appear on the FIA’s official upgrade list.
For Ferrari, the Brazilian weekend therefore becomes another opportunity to maximise the performance of its established technical package. The characteristics of Interlagos present their own challenges, particularly when balancing straight-line efficiency with aerodynamic performance through the circuit’s more demanding corners.
Those requirements have already been examined in our technical analysis of the Ferrari SF-26’s strengths and weaknesses at Interlagos, where the relationship between power-unit performance, aerodynamic efficiency and chassis behaviour is particularly relevant.
Mercedes and Red Bull have also submitted no upgrades for this event, reinforcing the broader picture of limited late-season development throughout the field.
McLaren has chosen a different direction, becoming the only constructor to declare new technical parts for the São Paulo weekend.
McLaren introduces four aerodynamic upgrades at Interlagos
McLaren’s Brazilian Grand Prix package contains four separate developments, each targeting aerodynamic performance. According to the FIA documentation, the changes concern the front wing, rear-wing assembly, beam wing and aerodynamic elements around the floor.
Although these are distinct components, they share a common objective: improving how air travels around the car and how efficiently the different aerodynamic surfaces work together.
The package is particularly significant because its modifications extend from the front of the car to the rear. Airflow generated and redirected by the front wing influences the conditions experienced by the bodywork and floor, while the rear wing and beam wing operate together in managing the flow towards the back of the car.
McLaren’s decision to develop these areas simultaneously points towards a broader effort to improve aerodynamic balance rather than simply adapting individual components to the characteristics of Interlagos.
The four developments declared to the FIA are as follows:
- Front wing: A completely new design intended to improve airflow conditions towards the floor and bodywork, increasing overall aerodynamic performance.
- Rear wing: A new assembly developed to generate aerodynamic downforce more efficiently across different operating conditions.
- Beam wing: Revised geometry designed to improve airflow management and interaction with the new rear wing.
- Floor aerodynamic elements: A local modification intended to improve flow conditioning and increase the floor’s aerodynamic performance.
Each change addresses a different part of the car, but their combined purpose is to improve the performance of the aerodynamic package as a whole.
New McLaren front wing targets airflow towards the floor
The most prominent front-end development is a completely redesigned front wing, introduced under the FIA’s performance and flow-optimisation classification.
Its purpose is to improve the quality and direction of the airflow reaching the bodywork and floor. This is an important part of aerodynamic development because the front wing does more than generate downforce directly: it also influences the air passing through the rest of the car.
By improving the conditions of that airflow, McLaren aims to enhance overall aerodynamic performance rather than focusing exclusively on the front wing’s individual contribution.
The declared change is a new component, not merely an adjustment to an existing specification. It therefore represents a more substantial development than the minor configuration changes commonly introduced to accommodate different circuits.
McLaren combines new rear wing with redesigned beam wing
Two further modifications are concentrated at the rear of the McLaren.
The team has introduced a new rear-wing assembly intended to improve the efficient generation of aerodynamic downforce across different operating conditions. The FIA classifies this development under local aerodynamic load, reflecting its stated performance objective.
Alongside the new rear wing, McLaren has developed a revised beam wing. Its geometry has been designed specifically to improve the interaction between the airflow around the beam wing and the main rear-wing assembly.
These components are closely connected from an aerodynamic perspective. Their relationship influences how air moves through the rear section of the car, making the effectiveness of the overall arrangement dependent on more than either component in isolation.
Introducing the two together allows McLaren to pursue a more coordinated improvement in rear-end aerodynamic performance.
The declared objective is not simply to increase downforce at any cost, but to generate aerodynamic load efficiently while improving the way airflow is managed across the rear of the car.
McLaren floor modification completes coordinated aerodynamic package
The fourth development is smaller in physical scope but remains part of the same aerodynamic strategy.
McLaren has modified the floor’s aerodynamic elements, with the FIA describing the change as a local intervention intended to improve flow conditioning.
The objective is to improve the quality of the airflow associated with the floor, thereby increasing its aerodynamic performance.
Although the modification is described as relatively small, its inclusion alongside the new front wing and rear-end components is significant. The floor is one of the areas influenced by airflow conditions established further forwards on the car, making its behaviour relevant to the performance of the complete aerodynamic package.
Rather than treating the floor as an isolated development, McLaren has incorporated the modification into a wider revision involving several connected components.
The four upgrades therefore suggest a common development direction: more effective airflow management, improved aerodynamic interaction between components and greater overall efficiency.
Why McLaren’s late-season upgrade strategy stands out from Ferrari
The timing of McLaren’s package is almost as noteworthy as its technical content.
With only a few rounds remaining in the 2026 championship, introducing four aerodynamic developments simultaneously represents an unusual commitment to the current car.
The wider Formula 1 field has adopted a more conservative approach, with every other constructor declining to register new upgrades for Interlagos.
This difference is particularly visible when comparing Ferrari and McLaren. While the British team has chosen to modify multiple aerodynamic surfaces, the Scuderia has not declared any additional developments for the SF-26.
Ferrari’s technical direction has already involved work on improving the behaviour and efficiency of its 2026 package. The team’s recent SF-26 developments following Austin and Mexico provide context for the configuration it is now seeking to optimise at Interlagos.
The absence of new parts in Brazil does not, by itself, establish how the two cars will perform against one another. The effectiveness of an upgrade depends on how successfully it functions on the circuit, while teams using established specifications can still extract performance through set-up work.
Nevertheless, the FIA declaration reveals a clear difference in technical approach. McLaren is continuing to introduce newly developed components, whereas Ferrari and its other rivals have entered the Brazilian weekend without additional declared hardware.
The distinction is also relevant to longer-term development planning. With the next championship approaching, teams must decide how much effort to devote to their current cars and how much to transfer towards future projects. Ferrari’s 2026 development work and its potential relevance to the 2027 Formula 1 car form part of that broader technical context.
Complete FIA upgrade list for the 2026 Brazilian Grand Prix
The official declaration identifies McLaren as the only constructor introducing new components at Interlagos.
McLaren: Four aerodynamic upgrades covering the front wing, rear-wing assembly, beam wing and floor aerodynamic elements.
Ferrari: No upgrades declared.
Mercedes: No upgrades declared.
Red Bull: No upgrades declared.
Williams: No upgrades declared.
Racing Bulls: No upgrades declared.
Aston Martin: No upgrades declared.
Haas: No upgrades declared.
Audi: No upgrades declared.
Alpine: No upgrades declared.
Cadillac: No upgrades declared.
Brazilian GP aerodynamic developments mark a change from Mexico
The nature of the developments declared at Interlagos also contrasts with the previous round in Mexico City.
The Mexican Grand Prix featured technical changes largely connected to power-unit cooling requirements. In Brazil, the new components are focused entirely on aerodynamic performance. McLaren’s four-part package is designed to improve airflow distribution and downforce efficiency rather than address the cooling demands that shaped much of the technical discussion at the previous race.
For Ferrari, the absence of newly declared developments places the emphasis on achieving the best possible result with the current SF-26 specification. The team must continue refining the car’s balance and making the most of its existing aerodynamic characteristics.
Those preparations will unfold across the Brazilian Grand Prix practice, qualifying and race sessions, where the competitive impact of the different technical approaches can begin to emerge.
McLaren enters the weekend with four new aerodynamic components intended to work together, while the other ten constructors rely on their previously developed packages. Whether that late-season investment produces a meaningful performance gain remains to be determined on track, but the FIA’s upgrade declaration leaves no doubt about which team has chosen to continue introducing new hardware at Interlagos.
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