Lando Norris
McLaren
Mercedes
Red Bull
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Williams
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Aston Martin
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Lando Norris has admitted that both he and his McLaren counterpart, Oscar Piastri, are now suffering in the 2026 F1 season due to the Woking-based outfit prioritising the team’s success last year.
The sheer size of the changes to the technical regulations between 2025 and 2026 can be summarised by the difficult starts that all three of last year’s championship protagonists have already endured this season.
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Norris’ title defence looks to have already passed him by, while Piastri has only managed to take part in one of the three Grands Prix that have been contested.
While Max Verstappen has clocked in more mileage than both of his title rivals from last year in the new campaign, Red Bull have also found it difficult to remain competitive due to the extra resources that were allocated to the RB21’s development in the latter stages of 2025.
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Lando Norris opens up about McLaren’s ‘difficult start’ to the 2026 F1 season
During an interview with The Guardian, Norris detailed some of the best moments from his championship-winning campaign last year before opening up on the challenges that he has faced at the beginning of his title defence in 2026.
After claiming a P5 at the season-opener in Australia, he was unable to start the following Chinese Grand Prix due to an electrical fault with the MCL40 that also ruled Piastri out of the race in Shanghai.
Another P5 at Suzuka sees the 26-year-old occupy fifth place in the drivers’ championship, some 47 points off Kimi Antonelli’s tally of 72 at the top of the F1 standings.
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“It’s been a difficult start,” Norris told the British outlet, before adding, “That’s the price you pay for winning the world championship and throwing all your eggs in one basket. But [now] is a time to work on developments and upgrades without races.”
The 11-time Grand Prix winner was then asked if he thinks McLaren will be able to turn things around soon, to which he replied, “It’s very difficult to say because you never know when other people are going to bring upgrades.
“I’ve given up trying to guess what’s going to happen in Formula 1. But we’re confident we can have a much more competitive car over the next month or two.”
Juan Pablo Montoya is optimistic that McLaren will return to the top in F1 soon
While Norris has remained tight-lipped on his predictions for where McLaren will be in the pecking order as the current campaign ensues, a former star for the Woking-based outfit is confident that the papaya-adorned team can turn things around sooner, rather than later.
Juan Pablo Montoya is adamant that McLaren will be ‘dominating’ F1 again soon, noting that the upgrades Andrea Stella and co have in the works will be key to them inching closer to the front runners.
McLaren are understood to be readying a major aerodynamic upgrade for the upcoming Miami Grand Prix, which should give a clearer picture on where they stand to their rivals on the grid.
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