Lando Norris saw during the race in Australia which team had the best car, and according to the world champion, it was not the team of race winner George Russell. The Brit labels the SF-26, Ferrari’s car, as ‘the best car’ on the current Formula 1 grid. ‘Their cornering speed is incredible’, Norris compliments the Scuderia.
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A year after his victory at the 2025 Australian GP, Lando Norris crossed the finish line in fifth place last race weekend. The McLaren driver saw a ‘painful’ gap to both Mercedes and Ferrari at the Albert Park Circuit. Although it was the Silver Arrows who took the first double podium of the season, with a lead of over fifteen seconds over third-placed Charles Leclerc, Norris still sees a primary advantage for Ferrari.
‘Ferrari has the best car’
The McLaren driver shared his first impression of the pecking order for the new season after the race, and McLaren’s place within these new dynamics. “We are clearly still far from where we need to be. But probably even more so from the perspective of the car,” he told Sky Sports F1. “I think the race showed well that we have a long way to go with the car, a very long way, and that we still have a lot of work to do. Improving the car is not something that can happen overnight or in a week or two weeks.”
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“I don’t know what the gap was, fifty seconds?”, Norris wondered. The driver finished nearly 52 seconds behind winner George Russell. “Almost a second per lap. So not quite that, but you would say at least five tenths to six tenths per lap.” According to Norris, the cause of the gap is twofold. “Part of it is still understanding the power unit. Part of it is just a better car. I think Ferrari, from what we see, clearly has the best car. Their cornering speeds are incredible.”
Red Bull also faster than McLaren
Besides Ferrari and Mercedes, Norris also sees how Red Bull is a notch better than his own McLaren team. “I think it was very clear that Red Bull was a lot faster, just because Max came from last place and almost beat us,” said the reigning world champion. Verstappen started from twentieth place at the Australian GP. “So in terms of pace, it wasn’t the best race, but we had some problems with the car at the beginning. We made some adjustments and that definitely brought improvement.”
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