Lando Norris Reflects on McLaren’s Up-and-Down Campaign
Ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix, Lando Norris mounted a firm defense of McLaren’s trajectory, asserting that the squad has assembled a respectable campaign following an alarming start to the championship. The reigning World Champions found themselves on the back foot early under the sport’s new ruleset, a slump punctuated by a disastrous double Did Not Start (DNS) for both Norris and his teammate Oscar Piastri in China.
Despite those early structural deficits, the Woking-based outfit managed a determined mid-season resurgence. Norris spearheaded this comeback with back-to-back victories at the Hungaroring and Zandvoort, and came remarkably close to securing a third win in Madrid before an untimely Virtual Safety Car halted his momentum. However, as the developmental race accelerated, McLaren found their competitive edge blunted, sliding back from the ultimate pace in recent rounds.
Addressing Car Handling Troubles and Upgrade Cycles
Speaking to the media in Mexico City, Norris did not mince words regarding the persistent handling challenges of the machinery, though he credited the team’s engineering core with maximizing their opportunities against rivals who made larger aerodynamic leaps.
The car has been horrible and difficult to drive the whole season, just other teams have brought a lot more upgrades since and improved a lot more than what we have. Nothing more than that,
said Norris during Thursday’s media day in Mexico City.
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The team is still doing a good job, considering we were almost one and a half seconds off at the beginning of the year, one second off. The fact we even won almost three races was a pretty sizeable achievement in itself.
He continued: So I think we’ve had a pretty good year, if we want to look at it from that perspective. Of course, we hold ourselves to a very high level, and we want to win everything we can. We started a long way behind at the beginning of the season, and we’ve done a good job to catch up. We’ve done better than the majority of other teams on the grid.
Piastri Eyes Constructor Battle Against Resurgent Red Bull
The developmental plateau has tightened the fight in the Constructors’ Championship, where McLaren now sits dead level on points with Red Bull in the contest for third place. The Milton Keynes squad has capitalized on recent gains, buoyed significantly by two pivotal race wins from Max Verstappen.
Oscar Piastri acknowledged the steep hill McLaren must climb to hold off their rivals, particularly as long-term engineering resources begin shifting towards the 2027 technical package. Nevertheless, the Australian driver remains focused on extracting the maximum from every remaining grand prix weekend.
You just have to keep fighting. I think at the moment we know we’re not as competitive consistently as Red Bull are, but we’re adding performance to the car still, and there’s a lot of things that can happen,
said Piastri.
Reliability has been a big topic this year, so there’s still plenty of ways it can turn. But clearly, on pure performance, we need to make some steps forward, and we do still have some things coming to the car that’ll hopefully help with that.
Piastri added: I think for us, it’s going to be a big challenge to stay ahead of Red Bull, but we’re always up for it.
Why This Matters
McLaren’s operational turnaround from a disastrous season opening to Grand Prix winners demonstrated the team’s engineering capacity to overcome fundamental car balance issues. However, the plateau in their development curve exposes the perils of in-season upgrade races, where rival constructors have developed at a faster rate. With McLaren and Red Bull currently deadlocked on points for P3, the final rounds will not only determine millions in prize money distributions but will also test McLaren’s ability to balance late-season performance updates against critical early development for the 2027 season.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does McLaren sit in the Constructors’ Championship?
McLaren is currently tied on points with Red Bull in the battle for third place in the teams’ standings, heavily pressured by recent victories from Red Bull driver Max Verstappen.
How many race victories has Lando Norris taken this season?
Lando Norris has captured two victories this season, winning back-to-back races in Hungary and the Netherlands, while narrowly missing out on a third win in Madrid due to a Virtual Safety Car.
What challenges are McLaren drivers highlighting ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix?
Both drivers pointed to a difficult, poorly handling car throughout the season, noting that rival teams have gained significant ground through aggressive upgrade packages, making pure performance gains critical for the remaining races.
