Norris ‘driving better than last year’ despite points deficit

Lando Norris may not be leading the Formula 1 world championship, but the reigning champion insists he is driving better than he was at the same stage of his title-winning campaign – and that belief is giving McLaren fresh momentum heading into the second half of the season.

Norris arrived at the summer break buoyed by a breakthrough victory in Hungary, where McLaren’s latest upgrades transformed the MCL41 into a race-winning machine.

The result was a welcome reward after a difficult opening 11 rounds in which Mercedes and Ferrari dominated the winners’ circle and left the Briton fifth in the standings.

Rather than dwell on the points deficit, Norris chose to focus on something he values just as highly: the level of performance he is extracting from the car.

“I think in terms of my driving, and my own performance as a driver, honestly, I’m very happy,” Norris said. “I feel like I have been doing a good job of maximising the car’s potential.

“I feel like I’ve driven better in this half of the season than I probably did to this point last year, to a certain extent, but sadly I’m not leading the championship.

“Of course, I want a better car and a car that can give me more chances and give me more results for the performance of driving I feel like I’m getting out of it, but that’s Formula 1.”

Those comments reflect a driver who has matured significantly since last season, when a string of setbacks – including costly qualifying errors and a collision with team mate Oscar Piastri – threatened to derail his championship charge before he eventually surged to a maiden crown.

McLaren encouraged by Hungary breakthrough

Norris was equally candid about McLaren’s current level, admitting the team is still chasing the benchmark it set in 2025.

“As a team, and with the car, we’re certainly not quite at the level we want to be at, or we were at last season,” he continued.

“We have still had some good results, but we also know we’re not where we should be. We’re not happy with that, we’ve been disappointed with our own performance, but we’re working hard to improve.

“We’re starting to see the benefits of that hard work – our win in Hungary came as a result of strong upgrades to the car – but we need to keep pushing and keep developing if we’re going to continue to fight for wins.”

No expectations, plenty of optimism

That Hungarian triumph, secured from pole position, has injected fresh confidence into both driver and team, even if Norris is refusing to make bold predictions.

“One thing I’ve learned for sure is just to have no expectations of the future and just to work in the present,” Norris added.

“I think that’s the way we’ve been doing everything as a team. That’s why we were back on top in Hungary: just working hard on ourselves as individuals and also as a team.

“Of course, I’m optimistic for the future and I think we can win more races, but we have good competition and there are still plenty of races I’m not confident in, because the car is not to the standard that it needs to be in certain areas.

“But I have confidence in the team. I had confidence that we could win a race, and it came a bit sooner than I thought. I have confidence that we can improve in those areas that are not good enough at the time.”

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With Antonelli holding a commanding lead in the championship and McLaren still trailing Mercedes in the constructors’ standings, the road ahead remains steep.

Yet Norris’ upbeat assessment suggests a driver who feels sharper, stronger and more complete than ever – and one who believes the best of McLaren’s 2026 campaign may still be to come.

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