Lando Norris has scrutinized McLaren’s current position in the pecking order. The British team won two world titles at the end of 2025, but now sees how current championship leader Mercedes, in particular, has already opened up a large gap. Norris – who also trusts that his team can turn the tide – is currently at peace with this compromise: ‘I’d rather be here now than not have won the world title last year’.
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Lando Norris won his very first world title in 2025. During the last race of the year, the Abu Dhabi GP, the Brit secured the title with a lead of just 2 World Championship points over Max Verstappen. Five months later, Norris is in a very different position, standing fifth in the championship after three Grands Prix, 47 points behind leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
“We are certainly not where we wanted to be, but I think… The real question I ask myself is: would I rather be here and have won last year, or would I rather have a slightly better car now and not have won last year? And I think you know what my answer would be,” the McLaren driver tells the media. “So you can’t have everything. As a team, we are certainly not where we want to be and where we aspire to be, but I think within the team we all know what we can achieve.”
Good progress at McLaren
In addition, Norris has rock-solid confidence that his team can turn the tide, as McLaren has done before. For example, the British team started 2023 as a backmarker, before – through a series of updates – it clinched the constructors’ title in 2024. “The spring break is an excellent moment to show what we as a team are capable of, against Ferrari and against Mercedes, who are performing very well at the moment,” Norris continues. “But I know that all the boys and girls in the factory are working incredibly hard, and good progress is being made.”
The world champion already reveals that McLaren has ‘a few things in the pipeline’. “It takes time to improve certain things, and it’s not like we’re that bad now,” Norris adds. “We are still the third-best team at the moment, but we certainly enjoy first place much more than third.”
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