Following a scruffy Sprint Race that saw Lando Norris make contact with McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, the reigning WDC settled for P5 in Qualifying at the 2026 F1 Singapore GP.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen scored his first pole position at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, with Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton starting P2 and P3, respectively. WDC leader Kimi Antonelli will start the race from P4, with Norris starts P5.
While Mercedes driver George Russell scored P6 in Qualifying, he will be taking an engine penalty and starting at the back of the grid. Piastri will be promoted to P6.
Lando Norris spoke to print media about his Qualifying performance at the 2026 F1 Singapore GP.
Norris on Qualifying at 2026 F1 Singapore GP — “We’re not quick enough”
The British driver appeared disappointed after Qualifying, finishing in P5 about three tenths down from Verstappen’s pole position lap. Teammate Oscar Piastri also appeared to struggle for pace, qualifying P7.
Norris expressed that the MCL40 had been difficult to drive during Qualifying at the 2026 F1 Singapore GP. He explained that he is struggling with the balance of the car on a bumpy street circuit.
“We just are where we have been all weekend. Nothing’s changed. We’re not quick enough.
“There were moments where I would do a good Sector 1 or a good Sector 2, but the car is just so difficult to drive. Yeah, it’s just too difficult to drive, hence the P5 and P7.
“But, it felt like there was potential. And it felt like I could maybe put together some magical lap in Q3, if things just went my way. But today was just too tricky, from a car perspective, to be at this limit where if I push 101%, I’m finished. If I push 99%, I’m finished. So it’s balancing it too much.
“And on a track like this with the bumps and everything, it was just too difficult. So no reasons, no excuses. Just not quite good enough.”
Overdriving the car
Norris explained that he felt he was overdriving the car during Qualifying at the 2026 F1 Singapore GP, which can open the door to mistakes. While he felt he could put down strong sector times, Norris found it hard to put a lap time together.
“It’s not like we can just let the car do a lot of the work and then add finesse to it. The car doesn’t feel great and you have to really make it and force it to get a lot of lap time out. On a track like this where the tyres degrade through the lap, where you need good traction, you need a good rear. As soon as you feel like you’ve put together a good Sector 1, Sector 2 is bad or Sector 3.
“The car is simply not quick enough, which means you have to overdrive. And when you have to overdrive, it’s just so easy to make a mistake, especially on a track like this.”
Singapore versus Malaysia
McLaren have appeared to struggle over the past two races, with the Malaysia race being no exception. Another bumpy track, Norris emphasised that Qualifying at the 2026 F1 Singapore GP appeared to be easier for the MCL40.
“The track surface is much better than Malaysia. It’s clear what we’ve learned that Malaysia was just not good for our car. A lot of things stopped working from an aero point of view.
“We’ve been better here, considering I’m not feeling like I can do a good lap and I’m three tenths off. It’s not a bad thing in a way, if I want to look at it from that side. It just means if we can make a slightly easier car, you can start to find three tenths quite quickly.
“There are still good signs. I’m still happy, comparing to Malaysia, that we have some speed in the car. But I’m just unhappy for a different reason, in a way.“
