Lando Norris remains optimistic ahead of the 2026 F1 Canadian GP after finishing P3 in Qualifying, just 0.151s off George Russell‘s pole position.
The McLaren driver has enjoyed a smooth weekend so far, qualifying P3 for the Sprint Race before taking advantage of a Mercedes intra-team battle to finish P2. Later, pushing his upgraded MCL40 to the limits, he improved throughout each Qualifying session, ultimately taking P3 behind a Mercedes 1-2.
“Happy with it”: Norris on his P3 result
Speaking during the 2026 F1 Canadian GP post-qualifying press conference, Norris reflected positively on his session and result, highlighting that he was able to close the gap to his rivals.
“Well, it was looking good because the Mercedes didn’t do a lap yet! That’s the only reason I looked good,” he jokingly began. “Until then, I was pretty happy, actually until that point. My lap, the 12.7, I was reasonably happy with. I thought there was a little bit more in it, which I tried to get out on my second lap, but didn’t really seem to be able to extract. So, I was happy.”
He continued: “I think to be as close as we were to the Mercedes is a good thing. To be ahead, I think, would be an amazing surprise and would be over the moon. But to be this close I think still makes us pretty happy. So yeah, it was close. Obviously, like they said, the Red Bull and the Ferraris were up there at different points, so it was always going to be tight. But yeah, just, I guess, a shame to miss out by such small margins. But that’s how it is around here sometimes. Even last year, I think the pole was insanely close. So still a good qualifying, happy with it and better than it was yesterday, for sure.”
McLaren’s upgrades deliver
Heading into the weekend, all eyes were on Mercedes and McLaren, who brought significant upgrades. However, unlike Mercedes, McLaren already introduced their first changes during the 2026 F1 Miami GP, which proved promising as both Norris and Oscar Piastri secured podiums in both the Sprint and the main race.
When asked if McLaren expected to be this close to Mercedes despite both teams bringing upgrades to Montreal, Norris explained:
“Probably not, mainly because Mercedes always performed very well here, as a standalone event. Even last year when we were here, we probably quite easily had the best car and Mercedes were still on pole. So, they’ve always just done very well on this type of track.
“With them bringing upgrades, of course, we thought it would be tough to beat them. And the fact we’re not using some of our upgrades, I think we’re very surprised to be even this close. A lot of good signs. It’s nothing bad. It’s a lot of positives considering we’ve not been able to extract everything out of our upgrades just yet. It shows that there are still good things to come once we figure them out. So yeah, plenty of positives. But I think to beat the Mercedes around here, considering how strong they’ve been so far this season, is probably a little bit optimistic.”
Eyes on Sunday’s Canadian GP race
With an increasing chance of rain for the F1 Canadian GP, Norris shared that a wet race could deliver some unexpected moments, as drivers have not yet had the chance to drive the 2026 cars in the rain.
“I have no idea,” he said when asked if the rain could give him more opportunities. “Like you said, we’ve never driven in the rain. I don’t think anyone knows how difficult it’s going to be tomorrow to drive these cars around. Not bad, just how difficult it’s going to be.
“I mean, it is our job, so I think the expectation obviously should be there, but I think it could be an insanely tricky race. I mean, it’s difficult enough to get temperature into a Soft tyre, let alone when it’s 10 degrees colder tomorrow and we’re going to have Inters and Wets on the car. So yeah, excited. Very, very excited to see how it’s going to pan out tomorrow,” he concluded.
