Several teams have brought upgrades to the F1 United States Grand Prix
AUSTIN, Texas — The 2026 Formula 1 season may be winding down.
But the development race never stops.
Several teams have brought upgrade packages to the 2026 United States Grand Prix, including frontrunners such as McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull. In Friday’s FIA Car Presentation Submissions, those three teams — along with Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, Audi, Alpine, and Cadillac — unveiled their new components for the weekend.
Ferrari brought one of the bigger upgrade packages to the Circuit of the Americas, including updates to the floor body, the floor board, the sidepod inlets, and the diffuser. All are designated as performance upgrades, with the first three aimed at “increasing floor downforce (on both front and rear parts) whilst also increasing energy levels and flow stability sent towards the back of the car,” according to the team’s Car Presentation.
The upgraded diffuser reportedly “returns increased aerodynamic load in an efficient way,” according to the team.
Speaking with the media, including SB Nation, on Thursday Charles Leclerc described the upgrade package as a “small step in the right direction,” but cautioned that he did not “expect anything hugely significant.”
McLaren’s upgrades include alterations to the front and rear corners of the MCL40, as well as a diffuser upgrade of their own. Regarding the corners of the MCL40, both the front corner scoop and furniture, and the rear corner furniture, have been revised to improve flow conditioning.
The upgrade to the diffuser on the MCL40 includes a new “diffuser geometry,” aimed at “an improvement of flow conditioning and local load across the speed range.
Speaking with the media on Thursday Lando Norris also offered some caution about the team’s upgrades. “Upgrades are not always just, you put them on and things work, and they’re not always, easy to get the full potential out of. I think we’ve had a car which has just been again, still so, so difficult to drive,” said the McLaren driver.
You can see the full list of upgrades here:
Further down the grid, Cadillac brought two upgraded components to Austin, including new floor fences and new cooling louvres. Both are aimed at improving performance, with the floor fences improving “flow conditioning to the rear of the car and [reducing] sensitivity to changes in car attitude, whilst retaining overall aerodynamic load.”
With Colton Herta slated to drive in FP1, the team had fitted an aero rake to his challenger to try and obtain as much data as possible on how the upgraded MAC-26 was fairing around the Circuit of the Americas.
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