Norris: McLaren put 2025 title push ahead of 2026 upgrades

Lando Norris says McLaren prioritised its 2025 title campaign over pursuing every possible gain for the 2026 car. With all-new chassis and power-unit regulations due for 2026, he said the team could not fight for the 2025 championship, chase every last upgrade and arrive in 2026 “just as confident”. He called that combination “almost an impossible dream”.

McLaren diverted attention from its 2026 preparations to keep Norris or Oscar Piastri in contention for the 2025 title. The team defended the constructors’ championship, while Norris won the drivers’ crown by two points over Max Verstappen. He became McLaren’s first drivers’ champion since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.

Mercedes and Ferrari, neither in the 2025 title fight, were able to end their 2025 projects early and were on course for a one-two in 2026; McLaren was battling Red Bull for third. Norris said McLaren began the 2026 season more than a second off the pace of Mercedes and other teams but had made up ground. He called the 2026 campaign successful rather than a failure and said McLaren would continue to make the same compromise.