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McLaren adds cooling louvres for high-altitude Mexico City GP

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Neil Houldey said McLaren had added bodywork louvres to improve cooling at altitude and might test a new set of forward-floor mini-fences.

GPBeat · Newsroom31 Oct 2026, 12:29 · 1 min

McLaren has added cooling louvres to its bodywork for the Mexico City Grand Prix, McLaren senior director of technical integration and legality Neil Houldey said ahead of first practice. The louvres are intended to provide extra cooling in the high-altitude conditions, and Houldey said the team might test a new set of mini-fences on the forward section of the floor.

The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez sits 2,238 metres above sea level. Houldey said the altitude brings a roughly 20% drop in downforce compared with any other circuit on the 2026 calendar.

Houldey also said McLaren planned to run its highest-downforce wing, a version introduced in Madrid and fitted with the H-Wing.

Sources 01
  1. PRIMARY SOURCETHE BRIEFING: 2026 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX – POWERED BY GOOGLE CLOUDRacing at altitude, Leo’s FP1 outing, and minor upgrades: Answering this weekend’s key questionsMcLaren F1 · Team statement; interested source

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