McLaren’s defence of their F1 crown has hit early turbulence in 2026, yet reigning world champion Lando Norris remains adamant the fight is far from over.
Despite sitting third in the Constructors’ Championship – already 89 points adrift of leaders Mercedes – the Woking-based team are refusing to shift focus to the future.
Norris, currently fifth in the Drivers’ standings, has dismissed any suggestion that McLaren should prioritise 2027, arguing that early write-offs rarely pay dividends.
Instead, the Briton is backing his team to recover, drawing confidence from their dramatic resurgence in 2023, when they transformed a struggling campaign into a consistent podium challenge.
“I think we can have a good season, even if we’re not where we want to be right now,” Norris told McLaren’s website.
“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.
“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.”
The season began poorly, with a double Did Not Start in China marking a significant low point. That race was particularly frustrating for Oscar Piastri, as it represented his second consecutive DNS.
However, signs of recovery emerged in Japan, where the Australian secured an impressive second-place finish, while Norris crossed the line fifth at Suzuka.
Underlying McLaren’s inconsistency is an ongoing struggle to fully understand the new 2026 power unit regulations, which have presented technical challenges across the grid.
