Reverted wing restores confidence; Norris P3, Piastri P4 in sprint
McLaren reverted to its previous-spec front wing for sprint qualifying at the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.
Both McLaren cars used the older front-wing specification for the sprint session.
McLaren made a last-minute U-turn and elected to run the old-spec (Miami) front wing so the car would be predictable for the sprint format.
Technical director Neil Houldey said the new wing “wasn’t quite delivering.”
Houldey said switching back to the prior wing restored driver confidence and unlocked better performance.
Andrea Stella said the team remained “three tenths off” pole and that Mercedes had brought meaningful (some reports described them as “important”) upgrades.
Lando Norris tested the new wing in FP1; Oscar Piastri tested the new wing later in practice.
Both McLaren drivers had excursions onto the grass under braking in Free Practice 1, resulting in limited early-session data for the team.
Lando Norris called the new front wing “a bit more questionable,” while also describing the overall upgrade as a step forward.
Norris warned that the Miami parts might have been track-specific and said Montreal’s low-grip, kerb-heavy layout complicates wind-tunnel validation.
McLaren said some elements of the new wing might be reintroduced either next weekend or at the Barcelona round after further assessment.
McLaren is completing the second phase of a two-part upgrade programme that began in Miami and brought a multi-part package to Montreal including a new front wing, reprofiled engine cover with different cooling exits, a new halo fairing, revised suspension fairing, new rear wing endplates and tweaks to the floor-edge wing to increase downforce.
The updated front-wing design debuted in Miami but failed to deliver the expected gains during Friday practice in Montreal.
George Russell took Sprint pole with a lap time of 1m12.965s; Kimi Antonelli was 0.068 seconds slower in second.
Lando Norris qualified third in the sprint and Oscar Piastri qualified fourth, with Piastri 0.02 seconds behind Norris.
McLaren described the decision to delay the front-wing introduction as a conservative, data-driven choice aimed at avoiding introducing an unproven element mid-weekend.
Some outlets reported both Norris and Piastri were running the new specification intended to improve aerodynamic efficiency and straight-line speed (Source 5); other outlets reported the team reverted to the older front wing for the sprint (Sources 1, 4, 6).
McLaren said it would evaluate the performance of the upgrades across Montreal’s circuit to determine whether the Miami momentum represented a sustainable step forward rather than a one-off.
