Lando Norris reflects on his P4 Qualifying result as a “good step forward” for McLaren at the 2026 F1 Barcelona-Catalunya GP.
Despite missing out on FP1 as rookie Leonardo Fornaroli stepped into his car, Norris started his weekend with promise, topping FP2. Finishing FP3 in P4, the Brit was only able to complete one lap in Q3 of Qualifying after Charles Leclerc brought out a red flag. Having a slow first sector, he originally claimed P3, but was knocked down by Lewis Hamilton in the final moments, as the Ferrari driver found unexpectedly strong pace.
“We took a good step forward”: Norris on his P4 in Qualifying
Speaking after the 2026 F1 Barcelona-Catalunya GP Qualifying session in the print media pen, Norris shared that P4 is a strong result for the team, though it is not yet where McLaren wants to be.
“No, no, I think we took a good step forward,” he began. “It’s just nothing slipped away. It came towards us. It got better. It’s just the others push a bit more and just look at their on-board and look at our on-board. I think it’s quite easy to see the difference of kind of balance and ease of producing that time. So I’m very happy with today.”
Analyzing the gap to Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, who finished 0.003s ahead of Norris in P3, Norris shared:
“I know the gap was small to P3, but he’s in a car that can go to three tenths quicker and I’m in a car that can maybe go half a tenth quicker, maybe one. So, no, I’m satisfied with today and should be happy as a team for this.”
Finding the positives
One week ago, the reigning World Champion found a tough Qualifying result at the 2026 F1 Monaco GP, taking P8 on the grid. Sunday’s race proved even more difficult as Norris was forced to retire due to more unreliability. This marked his second consecutive DNF, having also retired from the earlier 2026 F1 Canadian GP due to a gearbox failure.
Reflecting on the challenges he and McLaren have faced so far this season, Norris said:
“Yeah, I think it’s just, you know, for a few years now, we’ve not had any like outliers. We won in Monaco last year. So I think it’s tough for us to kind of realise we’re not at the same level as what we were. We don’t have a car that’s just good everywhere. We have a car that’s pretty good in Miami, pretty reasonable in Canada, not bad here, but shocking in Monaco.”
He continued: “You know, for us to be three tenths off here, I think it’s just a good effort, considering we were seven last, six, seven last weekend. Yeah, that’s not the best thing. So, no, we’re happy as before. The other guys did good laps, but we were definitely unable to achieve that.”
Looking ahead to Sunday at the Barcelona-Catalunya GP
When asked what he thinks is possible in Sunday’s race, considering the high track temperatures and tyre degradation, he explained:
“We’ll see. I don’t think we’re as good on tyre deg as Mercedes. I think they are probably the leaders on tyre deg. We’re good comparing to others. But also the Ferrari is incredible in the corners. They’re still class leaders in cornering speeds. They probably lose two, three tenths in drag and a little bit in power, which is a some of their own doing.
“But at the same time, to beat a car that’s three tenths quicker in Qualifying is a big task tomorrow in a race where you almost want to drive slower than what you can achieve. They can drive three tenths slower in the car for the tyres and still be quicker than us. I need to push an extra tenth, overheat the tyres, push more than them to try and get past them.
“So I think it’s a race where you don’t want to be over-pushing, but it’s a race where we’re going to have to do something if we want more than P4. So we’ll fight, but I think we’ll also be realistic in what our opportunities are.”
Norris explains why Barcelona suits the MCL40
Norris further shared that McLaren’s stronger pace in Barcelona is largely due to the circuit’s characteristics, noting that between Monaco and Barcelona, the team didn’t make any significant improvements to the MCL40.
“Not really. Still quite a handful in a lot of places,” he said when asked whether the car feels better to drive now. “Very unpredictable in places. I think if we can just be more committed with things. Monaco, we were just… So many corners, we just couldn’t commit to corners. We were afraid of the rear, then the front. It’s also just a different characteristic.”
“Here the minimum is third gear, probably something like 100 and something kph. Everything else is fourth, fifth, sixth gears, corners. Monaco is all second, first, third. So we’re in a completely different regime. It’s just the car didn’t perform in slow-speed corners, and still doesn’t. It’s not like we’ve improved anything from that side, it’s just the width of the track, and how long and flowing these corners just suits us much better,” he explained
Final developments
Despite strong FP1 and FP2 pace, McLaren broke the parc fermé curfew on Friday to make some last-minute changes for Saturday’s sessions. A new front wing endplate was brought for this round as well.
Asked whether these developments helped for the Barcelona-Catalunya GP Qualifying, Norris concluded: “Yeah, I mean we’re talking minimal, probably not even… yeah, I know, half a tenth. It’s hard to know that number, but everything happens. Probably got me P4 today, Max is only two-hundredths behind. So we are still in a race where hundredths of a second count. So the team are doing a very good job to bring everything that we can at this point.”
