Norris admits Melbourne result “hurts a little bit more” after difficult McLaren opener

Written by Kavi Khandelwa

The 2026 season opener in Melbourne served as a wake-up call for the back-to-back Constructors' Champion leaving reigning World Champion Lando Norris to make the most out of a lonely fifth-place finish while the frontrunners vanished up the track.

Credit: McLaren

After the pre-race heartbreak of losing his teammate Oscar Piastri to a crash on the way to the grid, Norris spent much of the Australian Grand Prix locked in a defensive struggle. While he ultimately succeeded in holding off a charging Max Verstappen in the final laps, the gap to the leaders was a stark reminder of the work ahead for the Woking-based squad.

The weekend had been an uphill battle from the first practice session, and the race followed a similar, grueling pattern. Norris found himself wrestling with a car that lacked the balance and raw pace to challenge the Mercedes and Ferrari duos.

As the laps ticked down, he was forced to "learn on the go" as the team attempted to dial in the complexities of the new 2026 power units under racing conditions. Reflecting on the difficult afternoon, Norris admitted it was "tough of course, trying to learn on the go and understand things."

He noted that the process was "difficult, not an easy thing to learn, to try and understand and to maximise."

However, there were small signs of progress as the afternoon wore on. While the McLaren looked sluggish in the opening stint, Norris managed to find a better rhythm toward the end of the race, which allowed him to keep Verstappen's Red Bull out of DRS range. "I think we learned through the race," Norris observed.

"We clearly did because, you know, the beginning of the race we were pretty slow. The end of the race we were, I think, a little bit better, a bit more competitive." Despite that late-race uptick, he was realistic about the massive performance deficit, adding, "but yeah, comparing to Max, comparing to the cars ahead, not even close."

The focus now shifts to a deep dive into the data before the paddock arrives in China. Norris highlighted that the team has "a lot of things to look into to try and understand," specifically pointing toward the integration of the new power unit. "I think we have to understand the engine more, but on the power unit more," he explained.

"That’s what today was for and see what we can learn for next week. But it’s clear today that we also need to improve the car quite a lot." While the engine remains a primary variable, Norris was candid about the chassis' own shortcomings, stating, "to be honest, today I would say it’s more about the car than just the power unit, but I need to go and look at the data and understand things a little bit more."

The physical and mental strain of the race was evident, as Norris described struggling with "a lot of things" throughout the fifty-eight laps. Given the high expectations McLaren carried into the new era after their resurgence in previous years, the distance to the podium felt particularly heavy.

"I guess after the last few years, it just hurts a little bit more," Norris admitted. He took a moment to acknowledge the performance of his rivals, noting, "I’m happy for George. He’s done a good job. Also Mercedes and Ferrari, they’re doing a good job. They’re doing better than we have."

With twenty-three races still to go, the season is young, but the clock is already ticking. Norris remains hopeful that the gap can be bridged, though he warned that there are no quick fixes in the world of modern Formula One.

"We need to learn, we need to understand quickly, but it does take time, sadly," he concluded. "Even though things are quick, it takes time and we’ll do the best we can."