2 September 2026 16:00 (UTC)
“We arrive at Monza following back-to-back victories, and it has been great to see the progress we have made this season rewarded on track”
Strap in for the fastest track on the Formula 1 calendar.
Located just down the road from Milan, one of the fashion capitals of the world, Monza has an exhilarating style all of its own.
Known as the Temple of Speed, the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza holds the fastest lap time and the highest average Qualifying speed in F1. Its long straights and sweeping corners offer a very different prospect from Budapest and Zandvoort, tight, twisting, high-downforce circuits where we picked up back-to-back race wins.
Lando and Oscar both finished on the podium at the last Italian Grand Prix, while the circuit has seen 11 McLaren Grand Prix wins across its time as one of only two ever-present tracks on the calendar, including Daniel Ricciardo's 2021 victory that ushered in a new era for our team.
To get you in the mood for this weekend’s action in Monza, we have reviewed the season so far, looked at where the race could be won and put another question to Lando and Oscar. The pair were recently back at the McLaren factory for our annual friends and family day, where Lando announced he’d penned a new contract until at least 2030.
We have also caught up with Technical Director – Applied Engineering, Neil Houldey, to discuss the minor aerodynamic updates we’re bringing to the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.
“We arrive at Monza following back-to-back victories, and it has been great for everyone in the team to see the progress we have made this season rewarded on track. Winning again was a fantastic feeling and has reinforced the motivation across the team to keep pushing. We know we have had a quick car at the last few races, but we are not taking anything for granted. This is a very different track from the most recent ones, and we can expect a pecking order that not necessarily reflects what has been seen in Hungary and in the Netherlands. Our rivals will continue to bring aerodynamic and power unit developments, so we will need to execute every detail well – from set-up and energy management to ensuring the drivers can perform at their absolute best – if we aspire to fight at the front again.
“Monza presents a unique challenge, with its long straights placing a premium on drag reduction, while the heavy braking zones demand stability and the chicanes require good ride performance. Energy will also be limited around the lap, so understanding the best way to recharge and deploy it will be an important focus during practice. Managing overtakes will therefore be particularly important, as different approaches to harvesting and deploying energy could create a yo-yo effect, with cars trading an advantage at different points around the lap.
“That said, the margins at the front remain extremely tight, so the accuracy of our pre-event simulation and simulator work will be critical in giving us a strong baseline. From there, we need clean practice sessions to refine the car and maximise the car-and-driver combination. This weekend, we have brought what we believe is needed to be competitive, including a new low-drag rear wing specification, including the first use of our H-Wing, alongside some small aerodynamic and low-drag options that we will evaluate before deciding the final specification for Qualifying. Overall, we know there is still more performance to unlock from the MCL40, both through maximising the package we already have and through further upgrades planned for the races ahead.”
While the high speeds on the straights catch the eye at Monza, it is almost more important to brake effectively to make the most of overtaking opportunities, while tyre management is equally crucial.
The Variante del Rettifilo chicane at Turns 1 and 2 sees cars go from around 210mph to 50mph in just over 100 metres, providing a test for both the drivers and their cars. They are further put under the pump by the tight corners that follow, which provide a great chance of moving up immediately after lights out.
The track then winds through sweeping corners and more chicanes before concluding with the famous Curva Parabolica that slingshots drivers onto the start/finish straight.
The final corner can make or break a lap time or a finishing place, with Monza's low downforce leaving cars liable to sliding.
Get it wrong, and drivers will see opponents sail past them. Get it right, and you will be welcomed by the wall of noise of the Tifosi in the grandstands, who then descend onto the track after the Chequered Flag for one of the most famous sights in Formula 1.
Back-to-back wins have boosted confidence at the McLaren factory in Woking, with Lando winning in Hungary ahead of the summer break, and picking up where he left off in Zandvoort, with his second victory as reigning World Champion. He has since celebrated that success with a new contract, tying him down until at least 2030.
On the other side of the garage, Oscar will be looking to return to the fight at the front after a difficult second stint in the Dutch Grand Prix left him sixth, despite an impressive double overtake at the start initially propelling him into contention for victory.
Those results either side of the enforced summer break have underlined the positive progress made with the MCL40 and rewarded the hard work of the team, but the Italian Grand Prix presents a very different challenge this weekend. Monza’s unique low-downforce demands mean that competition will remain extremely tough, with several of our rivals expected to bring circuit-specific parts.
After 12 Grands Prix, we sit third in the Constructors’ standings with 263 points, 75 off third place. Lando is fourth with 159 points, while Oscar is seventh with 104.
4 - 6 SEP
At Interlagos in 2012, the McLaren crew enjoying a cup of pre-packdown champagne would have been taken aback at the notion there wouldn’t be another one of these evenings for nine seasons. By 2021, when Daniel Ricciardo won the Italian Grand Prix, few of that crew remained in the garage. It was, in many respects, the start of a new era for McLaren.
While singular, victory at Monza was not the product of luck or unusual circumstances. The MCL35M was fast all weekend at Monza, Daniel started from the front row, led into the first turn and was never caught. Lando had a more eventful race to make it a 1-2 finish but even in his case, the primary moments of drama happened behind him.
“After so long without win, it felt like a massive relief, but it also underlined the ambitions of the team for the future,” says Andrew Salt, who was Daniel Ricciardo’s No.1 at the time. “The result proved that the potential was there, we just needed to find the consistency.”
The McLarens weren’t quite as fast as the Mercedes or Red Bulls at Monza – but they had enough pace to stay in front if they could get in front… and if they got the strategy stone-cold perfect. “Our Qualifying positions meant no change to our usual race weekend approach from anyone involved,” says Andrew.
Thus, Daniel’s first stint was about keeping Max Verstappen bottled-up behind him. He hit all of his braking points, didn’t present any opportunity for an overtaking lunge. Verstappen may have attempted an undercut, but he had issues of his own. Locked in a Drivers’ Championship battle with Lewis Hamilton, he couldn’t afford to pit too early and risk coming out behind Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas. Instead, it was Daniel who pulled the pin first, pitting as soon as his window was inside that of Bottas. The team needed a good stop, and got what proved to be the fastest of the day. Verstappen came in the next time around, but a slow stop ended any threat he might have posed.
Lando was having much the same race and Daniel, albeit in third place, was fighting a charging Hamilton. Hamilton finally got through on lap 24 but Lando immediately pitted, both undercutting to gain the position back, and also to come out ahead of Verstappen. Hamilton came in the next lap, and when he and Verstappen collided at the first chicane, they were distant in Lando’s mirrors. The ensuing Safety Car didn’t affect Daniel, who had used his few laps well to rebuild a decent margin, but Lando suffered when the cars that hadn’t yet pitted got a cheap stop. He was relegated to third by Charles Leclerc but took the place back almost immediately after the resumption.
The celebration at Monza was tinged with relief. It had been a long time since McLaren had won, but when presented with an opportunity, the team functioned like World Champions of old: excellent pit-stops, excellent strategy and millimetre-perfect driving. “For me personally, it was a moment of huge pride,” says Andrew. “The last time I was trackside for a win was, coincidentally, also at Monza in 2012. At the time, I was a trainee mechanic covering a support role in the garage and helping out wherever I could. Nine years later, almost to the day, I was standing in front of the car as the No. 1 mechanic on Daniel's car and then later that day on the pit wall, cheering him across the line in P1. I think that's a career highlight that won't be beaten.”
While McLaren lore usually traces our resurgence to a mid-2023 upgrade that triggered a return to regular podiums, victory at Monza in 2021 stayed in a lot of people’s minds, as proof that the team had what it takes.
Each race week, we’ll be putting the same question to Lando and Oscar to find out just how similar (or different) they really are. The question could be anything: from their favourite corner on the F1 calendar, to their ultimate pre-race anthem, or even the one food they absolutely refuse to eat on race week.
This week, we asked them to build their ideal race day menu.
Oscar: It’s a little boring, but eggs on toast in the morning with a little bit of bacon on the side for extra flavour. I would have this alongside something a little sweet, but healthy, like a smoothie. For lunch, I always have some form of pasta with tomato sauce, maybe bolognese, and chicken.
Lando: I’m not a big easter on race days, but I will usually have eggs for breakfast, poached or scrambled. For lunch, I will have some little bite-sized chicken wraps. Then I'll have popcorn or pretzels, maybe some breadsticks, and some mango afterwards. That’s heaven right there. Oh, and some banana bread. Boom.
Follow all of the action this weekend via the McLaren Racing App, available to download on Android and iOS.
