Lando Norris
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Lando Norris finished the 2026 Australian Grand Prix a daunting 51.741s behind race-winner George Russell, as McLaren struggled more than Mercedes with tyre graining.
The first round of the 2026 F1 season in Melbourne was a rude awakening for McLaren, who have won the last two constructors’ titles and even saw Norris win the drivers’ title last year. Neither McLaren racer fought for pole position at Albert Park nor for the podium in the race.
Oscar Piastri was the top McLaren driver during qualifying for the Australian GP on Saturday. But his fastest time in Q3 of a 1:19.380 was 0.862s down on the lap time that Russell scored pole for the Australian GP with. Norris’ effort was also 0.957s slower than Russell’s pole lap.
McLaren’s lack of pace at the Australian GP was also not tied solely to the papaya squad still having to learn Mercedes’ new engine. Team boss Andrea Stella revealed after the race that he was frustrated by the lack of information that Mercedes had offered about their new PU.
Here’s your top three from the Australian Grand Prix! Were you surprised by the podium finishers?
McLaren suffered significantly more than Mercedes with tyre graining in Melbourne
McLaren lost chunks of lap time to Mercedes on Melbourne’s straights during qualifying last Saturday, which highlighted the differences between the teams’ understandings of the Silver Arrows’ power unit built to the 2026 F1 regulations and how to manage their battery levels.
READ MORE: Five things we learnt from the 2026 Australian GP after Oscar Piastri crashed
But on top of losing lap time in the corners, suggesting McLaren’s aerodynamics and chassis need work, Norris’ issues with tyre graining during the Australian GP on Sunday showed the MCL40 is considerably worse than the Mercedes W17 with managing its tyres during a race.
That is according to Motorsport-Magazin, which reports that McLaren through Norris (after Piastri crashed on his way to the grid before the Australian GP) and also Red Bull faced a lot more trouble with tyre graining than Mercedes, especially Russell, throughout the 58 laps.
Russell experienced some tyre graining during his one-stop strategy that won the Briton the Australian GP. But while he had to do a 46-lap stint on one set of the hard C3 Pirelli tyres on Sunday, the Briton was able to clean his tyres and avoid suffering a significant drop in pace.
Max Verstappen failed to overtake Lando Norris despite his tyre-graining problems
Do you agree with Lando Norris’ assessment of the 2026 cars?
Norris’ issues with tyre graining during the Australian GP were made evident by his inability to make a one-stop strategy work like Mercedes’ Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, which ultimately helped the Silver Arrows duo to secure a one-two finish in the first race of 2026.
McLaren pitted Norris on Lap 11 of 58 under the virtual safety car (VSC) needed to clear the stricken Red Bull of Isack Hadjar after he had a race-ending engine issue. Mercedes also called their pilots in under the VSC, with Russell and Antonelli making their stops on Lap 12.
Yet Norris had to make a second stop on Lap 34 and returned to another set of the medium C4 tyres for his final stint, as he failed to avoid graining his hard tyres and failed to clean his tyres like Russell managed. Max Verstappen also revealed Red Bull’s tyre graining problems.
Verstappen crashed during qualifying for the Australian GP without setting a lap time during Q1, so he had to start from P20 on the grid. But while Verstappen made his way through the order with ease against the inferior midfield runners, he failed to get ahead of Norris for P5.
Norris ultimately held a 2.876s lead over Verstappen at the chequered flag on Sunday to get P5 and P6 in the season-opening Australian GP. Verstappen had shown more speed than his old title rival at points, but the Dutchman also had to pit twice with stops on Laps 18 and 41.
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