Lando Norris: 'McLaren won't be on the back foot' at the start of F1 2026

Norris feels McLaren is in a good place to attack Formula 1's new era even if it were third or fourth fastest in Australia

McLaren's Formula 1 world champion Lando Norris says his team's history of developing itself to the front has bolstered his confidence the papaya squad 'won't be on the back foot' even if it's not among the two quickest teams in Melbourne.

While F1's first real pecking order in Melbourne has yet to emerge, and can fluctuate circuit to circuit depending on power unit demands, McLaren believes it will likely be the third quickest team as the 2026 rules era gets underway - behind pre-season favourites Mercedes and Ferrari.

"It would be very optimistic to say we’re going to have the same form as we did here 12 months ago," said Oscar Piastri, who finished third in the 2025 championship after a breakthrough campaign. "I think we’re somewhere towards the front, but from testing it kind of feels like Mercedes and Ferrari have got a little bit on us and Red Bull, I would say.

"To achieve the same kind of performance [as last year], we’re going to have to find a bit more."

But while teams are starting from a clean sheet of paper with the 2026 cars, McLaren's impressive 18-month development curve across the 2023 and 2024 season, which turned it from an also ran into a dominant force, is a reminder that the team is capable of developing its way to the front from a slower start.

When asked by Motorsport.com if that back story is giving him more confidence that McLaren's outlook could look very different towards the end of the season, Norris replied: "I don't think we're starting on the back foot. Even if you're second, third or fourth quickest, I don't think that's on the back foot. I think that's still a very good position to start in.

"In previous years where it's been harder to improve over the course of a season, we've certainly proved that you could. And I continue to believe that, you know, it's a long, very long season."

Oscar Piastri: "To achieve the same kind of performance [as last year] we’re going to have to find a bit more."

Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images

Norris said his tough first half of the 2025 campaign, during which he struggled with his car in qualifying, showed that there is no reason to panic if the early stage of the 2026 season isn't going his or the Woking team's way.

"One of the big [lessons] from last year is to not get too frustrated with one or two bad races, a bad beginning of a year. It can always come back your way as long as you keep working on it," he said.

"I have very good faith in the team that they can, if we don't start in the best way possible, that we will be able to continue to work as efficiently as possible to bring upgrades, bring big things later on through the season to help turn things around if that is the case.

"But even if we start in a good form, I still expect us to continue that and improve a lot through the middle of the course of the season. It's certainly not led by our results this weekend or the first races of the year."