Norris defends McLaren's progress despite difficult 2026 car

Lando Norris defended McLaren's 2026 progress, but said the car had been difficult to drive all season and rival teams had brought more upgrades and improved more. Speaking on Thursday's media day ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix, Norris said McLaren began the year well behind but had caught up and done better than most teams.

McLaren's slow start under the new rules included both Norris and Oscar Piastri failing to start in China. Norris said the team had been almost 1.5 seconds off the pace at the beginning of the year. Its recovery brought back-to-back wins for Norris in Hungary and the Netherlands; a third victory in Madrid was denied by an ill-timed Virtual Safety Car. Norris said winning almost three races was itself a sizeable achievement.

Heading into Mexico, McLaren were level on points with Red Bull in the fight for third in the teams' standings. Piastri said Red Bull were more consistently competitive, making it difficult for McLaren to stay ahead. He also said reliability could still change the contest. McLaren is still adding performance and has further developments for the car on the way that Piastri hopes will help. The team's focus is already on 2027, he said, but it still needs a step in outright pace.