Ahead of the 2026 F1 Austrian GP, McLaren‘s Lando Norris spoke in a print media session and doubled down on the statement he made in Barcelona on Ferrari’s potential. The Briton made the comment after placing P3 at the Barcelona-Catalunya GP behind race winner Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
The Scuderia enters the upcoming weekend with its first major in-season power unit upgrade of the 2026 F1 season. This could potentially solve the team’s main weakness. Norris shared his insights on Ferrari’s performance thus far in the season and how the incoming upgrades would impact things.
However, Ferrari is not the only team entering the 2026 F1 Austrian GP. McLaren is another team bringing their own new bits to the Red Bull Ring. Ahead of the weekend, Norris reflected on the flaws of his MCL40 and what upgrades he hopes the team will bring in the following weekends.
Norris not surprised by Ferrari’s progress ahead of the 2026 F1 Austrian GP
While Mercedes has dominated the 2026 F1 season, Norris reckoned that Ferrari would be even more competitive if it had a better power unit.
Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli clinched six consecutive victories in the opening rounds of the season. However, after Ferrari had introduced a massive upgrade package at the 2026 F1 Barcelona-Catalunya GP, Hamilton broke the streak and took his maiden win with the Scuderia.
When asked if he was surprised by the progress in performance the Scuderia had made prior to the 2026 F1 Austrian GP weekend, Norris replied: “I don’t think they’ve made a lot of progress since the beginning of the year.”
The 26-year-old rightly explained that he believed Ferrari was always one of the front runners of the 2026 F1 season.
“I think they were one of the best teams the whole season so far. They’ve certainly made progress. They weren’t on pole in Barcelona, so it’s still clear that the Mercedes is probably all-around the best car.”
How the power unit upgrades could impact Ferrari at the 2026 F1 Austrian GP
Lando Norris then shared his insights on the SF-26’s flaws and how the incoming power unit upgrades will impact Ferrari’s performance at the 2026 F1 Austrian GP.
“I don’t know how much the engine upgrade is going to help them this weekend, but it’s clear that the biggest time loss is the straights. Probably half of it is power. A good amount of it, like I said before, is drag, and the fact that they’re better in the corners is also because they’re a little bit more draggy in the straights.
“They have the ability to make a big step with the engine to easily become the favourites. But they’ve been good the whole weekend, the whole season, so it’s not like they’ve suddenly turned up and stepped up.
“They’ve had one of the best cars, if probably not the best car in a lot of places so far, but they’ve been losing out quite a bit from the power unit. So it’s not really a question of are they [at the front now], they have been the whole season.”
Norris on working through the traits of the MCL40 he dislikes
The reigning champion also spoke on his own car ahead of the 2026 F1 Austrian GP. Norris reflected on what he would change about his MCL40.
He also revealed that his current McLaren still carries traits he disliked during his rookie season. However, he also acknowledged that despite his preference, he has had unbelievable success.
“There are certainly some traits in the car that I don’t like. Obviously, there’s a bit of a trait in the car that I don’t like, since I’ve been in McLaren. Some similar characteristics that are, personally, for me as a driver, I would love to change, but I’ve won two Constructors’ world championships, won the Drivers’ last year, still with some of these characteristics, so there’s pros and cons of working around some of them.”
Improvements the MCL40 needs
The Briton then expressed that, despite his own preferences, he believed that, as a driver, his responsibility was to adapt to the car given to him.
Norris then referenced the 2025 F1 season to further explain his point.
“As a driver, I would prefer some differences, but at the same time, I don’t really care how the car I get given, it’s my job, same as last year, the beginning of last year, the car could win races, I had to adapt to the car that I was given, and I’ll always take that over a car that I burn, but it’s not as quick. There’s a little bit of both.”
Norris also revealed that the MCL40 was lacking overall grip. An issue both he and teammate Oscar Piastri have experienced and provided feedback on.
“The main thing is just load, it’s downforce, it’s grip, which is not at the same level as others. Here and there, there’s some characteristics that we need to improve, and we want as drivers, we’re pretty aligned as drivers on what we want from the car, so some characteristics that we both agree need to be improved.”
