Lando Norris is not worried about the performance of McLaren F1 ahead of the Italian GP, in spite of other championship contenders strengthening themselves after the summer break.
The reigning Formula 1 World Champion discussed the track specifics ahead of the first race at Monza featuring the new generation of challengers.
Energy management will be hugely challenging for McLaren and everyone at the 2026 F1 Italian GP according to Norris
Lando Norris went further into detail ahead of the Italian GP about the track areas which will suit much less the newly introduced technology, disagreeing with the feedback provided by fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri.
While the Aussie was adamant in reporting Norris’s first simulator impressions for Monza as not as positive as the simulator runs at the Hungaroring, Spa or Silverstone, with the possibility of implementing “loopholes” at the latter tracks, the Brit denied.
“I don’t know if I would say there are really many loopholes in Spa, I think you just have more corners where you could spend a bit of time to kind of get the energy back up, so I would say a little bit more scarce on energy here.”
Race winner twice in 2026, in Hungary and Zandvoort, Norris acknowledged the presence of a lower number of energy recovery areas at the famous Italian track compared to some of the latest F1 outings.
“You just have you know one corner and a long straight, one corner and a long straight and not a lot of time to recover battery in between, so it’s going to be a different monster to last year, but it’s just the way things are now, it’s what we have to deal with, so we just need to maximize whatever we get.”
Upgrades in store for Ferrari
Championship rivals Ferrari will sport an engine upgrade at the upcoming home race. Taking advantage of the ADUO allowances, the Italian outlet will sport both a more powerful engine as well as a more developed aerodynamics system.
Asked whether he fears the Ferrari drivers and their more advanced challenger, Norris stressed the high level of competitiveness displayed through the entire season by the Scuderia, denying the fact the a single new introduction can make them a bigger rival in his eyes.
“I’m not worried at all, I mean they’ve been very competitive, I think it’ll make them more competitive so good on them. They’ll make our life a bit trickier, it’s clearly been their biggest weakness, I would say, in many scenarios, so they’ll become a bigger threat this weekend for sure but I don’t worry, if they beat us, they beat us, they deserve to so it’s not a worry.
“ We just have to keep focused on our own job, we know it’s a different track.”
While knowing the potential of his and his team’s hard work, Norris is realistic and knows that there are several contenders for the main event on Sunday, in addition to Ferrari, and having won twice in the last two rounds will not assist him in Italy.
“We’ve won two races but it’s not like we’ve been competitive the whole season and we know that there are things we still need to work on, like I said many times, so this is a different track, we’ll be patient, we’ll see where we stand tomorrow and then we’ll give you a better answer.”
