Norris: McLaren's 2026 struggles are the price of last year's success

Lando Norris, the British driver for the McLaren Formula 1 team, believes the squad's difficult 2026 season is a direct consequence of going all-out for the world championship last year. New technical regulations came into force in F1 this season, and McLaren began preparing for them with less time in hand.

Why time ran short

McLaren kept developing its previous car for a long time because it was fighting for both the Constructors' and Drivers' championships. That left less time to work on this year's machine. The team did return to winning ways, with Norris victorious in Hungary and the Netherlands, but it could not sustain its development pace later, as rivals moved ahead.

"I definitely wouldn't see this year as a failure," Norris said. According to him, the team knew it would pay a price for its success, especially as the sport goes through the biggest rule changes in its history. He said that when the team wanted to switch focus to the new project, it was unable to do so.

Place in the standings

Norris feels his performance deserves better recognition than the table shows. He is currently sixth, 159 points behind the leader, Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, who has already been crowned champion. Norris is 77 points ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri.

Asked whether the fight for a higher overall position matters to him, the driver answered no. He said that only a title fight truly matters to him, and that otherwise the key is whether he got the maximum out of every race. As signs of a very good season, Norris cited his two wins and third place in the Spanish race.

He admitted that Formula 1 mostly judges people on results alone, and that in this case they do not reflect how he feels about his year. The driver said he must keep working hard and try again next year.