McLaren bring upgrades to Austin as Red Bull close in on third in Constructors' Championship

McLaren turn to upgrades as Red Bull threaten third place

McLaren will introduce further upgrades at the United States Grand Prix in Austin as the reigning world champions look to improve their car's performance and hold off a resurgent Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship over the remaining six rounds of the season.

McLaren remain third in the standings but fell into the clutches of fourth-placed Red Bull over the first of the end-of-season triple-headers. McLaren failed to score a podium across that run, while Red Bull claimed four top-three finishes, including two wins for Max Verstappen. Red Bull have cut what had been a 76-point deficit to just seven points.

A modest upgrade package

McLaren's official pre-Austin preview described their results over the last three events as falling "significantly short of expectations", with a 33-point haul described as "significantly lower than anticipated". Rob Marshall, McLaren's chief technical officer, said: "We're bringing a modest selection of upgrades for this event, aimed at improving some braking reliability and performance issues. We also have some small floor changes to test."

Marshall added: "We have all seen how difficult it is to predict the relative performance of the top teams over the last five or six races. The last few races have not 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 for correlating what we've seen in our development tools with the track," he said. "We have the full range of corner types here so getting the best balance for the whole lap will be our main focus."

Costly mistakes under the spotlight

McLaren's cause in Singapore was not helped when they lost eight points on the final lap of the Sprint after their cars collided when Lando Norris attempted an overtake on Oscar Piastri. Norris later apologised, admitting it was an ill-advised move on his team-mate at such a late stage. The world champion said: "I take responsibility for my mistakes, and I learn from them."

McLaren return to Austin, the scene of a high-profile incident in 2025 when both their drivers crashed out on the first lap of the Sprint in a chain reaction set off by Piastri colliding with Nico Hulkenberg.

Sky Sports F1's Bernie Collins said on The F1 Show podcast: "McLaren have had a few incidents through the year where they have not maximised their points. [In Singapore] Max Verstappen maximised the result, McLaren did not." She added that Red Bull "need 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 of a concern, and Red Bull are probably now the fastest if not second-fastest car for most tracks."

Austin weekend schedule

Sky Sports F1 will show every session live. Friday October 23: United States Grand Prix Practice One at 6.30pm and Practice Two at 10pm (UK time). Saturday October 24: Practice Three at 6.30pm and Qualifying at 10pm. Sunday October 25: The United States Grand Prix at 8pm.