Norris says patience required but ‘we’ll return to winning races’

Lando Norris arrived at Suzuka with the weight of a difficult start to 2026 on his shoulders – but if the reigning world champion is feeling any pressure, he’s not showing it.

Instead, the McLaren driver is radiating belief that brighter days are just around the corner.

After a bruising opening double-header for McLaren, Norris is choosing optimism over frustration, pointing firmly to the untapped promise within the team’s new machine.

'A lot of potential' waiting to be unlocked

McLaren’s campaign stumbled out of the gate in dramatic fashion – Oscar Piastri crashing before the start in Australia, followed by a double non-start in China due to power unit issues. Yet, remarkably, the team still sits third in the constructors’ standings.

For Norris, that’s proof the foundation is solid.

“The car has a lot of potential,” Norris said. "We’re certainly not where we wanted to be, but I think…

“The real question you probably ask is would I rather be here and have won [the title] 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. So, you can’t have the best of everything.

“As a team we certainly are not where we want to be and where we desire to be, but I think we all know within the team what we can achieve. And now is just as good a time as ever to prove exactly what we can do as a team – against Ferrari, against Mercedes, who are performing very well.

“But I know all the boys and the girls back in the factory are working very hard and there’s good progress happening.

“It takes time to improve on some things and it’s not like we’re bad. We’re still third-best team at the minute, but we certainly enjoy being first a lot more than third.

“So, time will tell. We’ve got some things in the pipeline and like I said everyone’s working hard, so we’re ambitious to get back to the top.”

Eyes on the comeback

History, Norris believes, is firmly on McLaren’s side. The team has already proven it can overturn daunting deficits – something the Brit is quick to remind anyone doubting their chances against early pacesetters like Mercedes and Ferrari.

“I can’t remember how many points we were behind in 2024 from Mercedes and Red Bull, Ferrari, but I think we were over 150 points or something behind and we still managed to come back and win the constructors’,” he recalled.

“I don’t know how far we are behind now – it’s already quite a bit – but I think we’re not necessarily thinking of that just yet.

“What we are thinking of is getting on the podium first of all, and then just returning to winning races. The points then take care of themselves and we’ll see what we can claw back.

“I think we’re confident as a team and we believe in ourselves – we’ve won the last two championships and we won the drivers’ last year because we could build the best car on the grid, and I’m confident we can get back to doing that this year. It just takes time.

“You have to be patient. But yes, I have a good belief in the team and I think we can have the best car this year.”

Learning from Shanghai’s shock

The double-DNS in China was a low point – but also, Norris insists, a valuable lesson. The issue, traced back to a Mercedes-supplied component, has since been thoroughly investigated in collaboration with Mercedes High Performance Powertrains.

“Alongside HPP, I think it took a little bit of time to figure things out, but yes," he said. "Of course it hurt us as a team; certainly didn’t make us look good to have two cars not starting a race.

• Read also: McLaren reveals separate battery causes of double DNS in China

“I think what hurt more is the fact it was out of our control. But with HPP we’ve worked hard to figure things out, to understand how it happened, why it happened, and of course we’ll do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t happen again. But you live and you learn.

“It was a tough one for all of us. None of us want to have a weekend like that, and especially start a Sunday like that. So yeah, it hurt a lot, but I think at the same time it’s a good time for us to learn and step back and move on to this weekend.”

With the paddock now focused on Suzuka, Norris’ message is clear: McLaren’s early struggles are just a chapter, not the story.

Armed with confidence, momentum from past comebacks, and a car he insists is brimming with promise, the reigning champion is already plotting a return to the front – one step, one podium, and one victory at a time.

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