Lando Norris says McLaren ‘not giving up’ on F1 2026 title fight with Mercedes
Photo: Race Pictures
08:01, 21 Apr
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Henry Eccles is a freelance Formula 1 journalist for GPblog, covering breaking news, live race blogs, and features across the F1 calendar. Since joining in 2026, he has produced high-volume reporting on the sport’s biggest stories, alongside feature pieces including analysis and historical content.
Lando Norris has said McLaren will not give up their hopes of defending their F1 world championship despite their tough start to the 2026 season.
After a double DNS in China, a second in succession for Norris' teammate Piastri, McLaren bounced back with a P2 finish from the Aussie in Japan, but sit P3 in the Constructors' standings already 89 points behind leaders Mercedes.
Norris, who finished P5 at Suzuka, admitted that McLaren are "not where we want to be right now" amid early struggles to fully understand the new 2026 power unit, but made clear the papaya team are "not giving up" on championship victory.
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Norris looks to recent McLaren comebacks for 2026 inspiration
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Photo: Race Pictures
Speaking to McLaren's website, Norris was adamant that the Woking team will not instead choose to focus on 2027, adding his belief that such an approach rarely bears fruit.
"I think we can have a good season, even if we're not where we want to be right now.
"And although we haven't started the season where we want to be, we still want to push hard for the championship, this isn't a case of giving up and focusing on next year - I'm not sure if that approach ever really works."
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The world champion, who sits P5 in the Drivers' standings, then looked at McLaren's recent history at mid-season comebacks - in 2023, the team made a remarkable turnaround from the back of the grid to fighting for podiums, for instance.
“There's plenty of examples where we've not quite been where we want to be at the start of the year, but have ended up in a much stronger position by the end , 2023, 2024 and so on, and we're a stronger team now than we were then.
"We've been there, done it, learned from it and I trust that this team knows how to do it again. Plenty of hard work ahead, but we're ready for it.
"We're not in a terrible position, but we've definitely got to work to get back in contention for wins, and, even then, we need to keep going to make sure we've got a car capable of winning every single weekend."
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Norris explains McLaren early season issues
The 26-year-old also took a look at some of the reasons behind McLaren's 2026 struggles, adding that a lack of time to get on top of the power unit has seen "tiny margins make significant differences."
"We've also had some issues that really haven't helped our development of these cars," Norris said.
"One thing we realised very early is that time in the car, and getting laps on the board, is so important when it comes to learning how to get the most out of the car, and specifically the power unit.
"Tiny, tiny margins make significant differences. Combine that with the fact that we didn't start the Grand Prix in China, and that we didn't get enough track time during practice in Japan, and it's easy to see where we're lacking."
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Friday 01.05.26
Practice 1
04:30 PM
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08:30 PM
Saturday 02.05.26
Sprint Race
04:00 PM
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Sunday 03.05.26
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Friday 01.05.26
Practice 1
Fri 04:30 PM
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Fri 08:30 PM
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F1-stand 2026
Season
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | MercedesMER | 72 | |
2 | MercedesMER | 63 | |
3 | FerrariFER | 49 | |
4 | FerrariFER | 41 | |
5 | McLarenMCL | 25 | |
6 | McLarenMCL | 21 | |
7 | HaasHAA | 17 | |
8 | AlpineALP | 15 | |
9 | Red Bull RacingRBR | 12 | |
10 | Racing BullsRCB | 10 |
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