In the 2026 F1 British GP Sprint Qualifying, McLaren drivers trailed behind competitors Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri ending the session in P6 & P7, respectively.
Reigning Champion Lando Norris sustained damage to his front brake duct in the first Sprint Qualifying segment. According to Norris, the damage hampered his performance through most of the session, but he still managed to wrestle his McLaren into SQ3. Luckily, McLaren managed to fix the car for the final Sprint Qualifying segment, enabling Norris to push on his final run.
Norris had a difficult Sprint Qualifying session
“It was, actually, a lot more than I thought,” Norris said about the damage to his front brake duct. Adding that the car felt “shocking” for most of Sprint Qualifying, before McLaren fixed the car ahead of SQ3.
“Because only the final run we managed to fix it. The guys did a good job on fixing it for the final run. But the car was just completely different and way better again. So, it felt pretty shocking for most of it.
“And, just lucky that we managed to fix it, because it felt like a completely different car, but by the time I got the feeling for the final lap, I felt like I could have just pushed way more.
“So, a little bit, just unfortunate today, but I think also the pace was still there, there or thereabouts.”
Expectations for the Sprint Race
While the McLaren wasn’t in the fight for the front row in the 2026 British GP Sprint Qualifying, both Norris and Piastri ended the session within a tenth off the pace of Max Verstappen in P3.
Asked whether he thought he could advance through the field tomorrow, the reigning Champion stated that he would “try” but cast doubts about being able to challenge the Mercedes of George Russell, who qualified ahead of Norris in P5.
“I will try, but I mean, the cars we’re around, I think maybe the Red Bull we can potentially compete against, but the Mercedes of George is clearly just a lot quicker.
“So, to fight a much quicker car like that is going to be difficult, but you never know. I felt happier at the end, I just need to understand a few things and see what we can improve into tomorrow.”
Norris hopes to give fans a better result tomorrow
Since the British GP is his home race, Norris lamented the lack of pace that prevented him from competing for top positions in Sprint Qualifying in front of his home crowd. The McLaren driver now hopes to deliver a better result for the fans at the track tomorrow.
“Yeah, that was always good, I mean, also for Lewis to be on P1, on pole for tomorrow is a cool thing for all the fans.
“Again, still a cool thing for me to see. So, yeah, unfortunate we don’t have the pace to compete against them, but always just nice to see the fans, see the yellows, see my grandstands, so hopefully we can have a better day for them tomorrow.”
Piastri expected the Sprint Qualifying result for McLaren
Oscar Piastri, who finished the session just behind Norris in P7, noted that the result didn’t come as a surprise to him after the pace McLaren showed in the first and only practice session of the 2026 F1 British GP weekend. After a “tricky day”, Piastri is looking to “improve” on Saturday.
“Yeah, more or less, I think after practice we looked pretty slow, so it’s about where we thought we’d be.
I think, to be honest, probably closer to that next pack behind Kimi and Lewis. A tricky day to be honest, but we’ll try and improve for tomorrow.”
While Piastri had expected the result, he added that the car’s performance had improved between practice and Sprint Qualifying, and he was satisfied with his performance. However, the lack of pace prevented the McLaren driver from achieving a better result in Sprint Qualifying, but like Norris, Piastri will have another go in Qualifying for the 2026 F1 British GP.
“It improved a bit, definitely, but not as much as we need, unfortunately. So. I felt like I’ve really been on it today, and we’ve just not had the pace, so a bit of a shame.
“But we’ll try again tomorrow.”
