McLaren’s Lando Norris shared that he is very encouraged by his performance in qualifying at the 2026 F1 Belgian GP, where he placed P3. While he will not be able to keep his position, the Briton reflected that it was “probably one of the best laps” he has produced all season.
Ahead of the weekend, he was handed a 10-place grid drop after McLaren fitted a new power electronics unit to his MCL40. The newly fitted upgraded part exceeded the permitted allocation for the component, hence the penalty. Norris will instead start the 2026 F1 Belgian GP in P13.
Nonetheless, the Briton is motivated by his performance thus far at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Despite starting from further down the order, he remains confident that his MCL40 has the pace to help him fight his way up the pack.
Positive weekend thus far for Norris
When reflecting on his performance in qualifying at the 2026 F1 Belgian GP, Norris revealed not much had changed in his McLaren. While he is excited by his performance, he hoped he could have started in P3 for a proper chance against Red Bull and Mercedes.
Regardless, he is looking forward to racing at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. The Briton also shared that he considered the 2026 F1 Belgian GP a home race and reflected that “it’s always a little boost here”.
“I mean, we’ve not really changed anything. We’re just a bit quicker on this track. But it’s nice to be standing here, just not nice knowing I have to go ten places back tomorrow. It’s unfortunate that this isn’t where we’re genuinely starting tomorrow. Because it would be nice to have a little fight with these guys.
“But we made the most of it. It was still a very good qualifying, a very good lap for me. So, honestly, I’ve been pretty happy all weekend. It’s a little bit of a home race, like you said, for me, so it’s always a little boost here, and I’ve performed well all weekend so far. Hopefully, we can still have a good race tomorrow and have some fun.”
Fighting back from the middle of the field
When asked if he was confident in moving up the grid from P13, the reigning champion replied: “I mean, that’s certainly the plan.”
Norris shared that there will be multiple opportunities to overtake over the 44-laps of the 2026 F1 Belgium GP. Ahead of the race, he remains confident in his McLaren’s performance.
“I don’t know how far up you’ll get, but the car is obviously performing well and good enough for P3 today. So, we’ll see. I think there’s plenty of opportunity. It’s a long race. Hopefully, it’s good for overtaking, and we can put on a bit of a show for everyone.”
Norris on his incident on his second flying lap at the 2026 F1 Belgian GP
On his second flying lap attempt, the Briton had gone wide and went over the gravel at the Fagnes chicane. Norris aborted his final run.
The reigning champion shared his perspective on the incident, saying that he was not aware of how much time the incident cost him. He then added that he suspected that there would be no improvement to his time regardless, reflecting that his first lap was “pretty amazing”.
“No, I don’t know. I don’t have a delta on my dash, so I don’t know if I was up or not. Honestly, I didn’t think I was going any better than my first lap. My first lap was pretty amazing; I was quite shocked to be at the top. So I was very pleased. I just don’t know if I was up or not. I don’t know if I was green, yellow, white or purple, so that was a shame.”
Norris also claimed provisional pole prior to pole sitter Kimi Antonelli’s flying lap attempt. While he is not surprised that the Italian was more than half a tenth quicker by the end, the Briton shared that it was still slightly disappointing. Nonetheless, the 28-year-old did compliment Antonelli’s effort and his Mercedes’ pace.
“The thing is, I knew if Kimi was going quicker, he wasn’t going quicker by half a tenth. That’s never been the case all season. So, again, I guess it just hurts when you see a car go four tenths quicker. But he’s done a good job, and I’m so happy with P3.
“Honestly, I’m pretty pleased to be here. It’s just a shame I have a ten-place grid penalty, so I won’t be anywhere close to here tomorrow morning.”
Not much changed for McLaren, but they are better suited to the track
When asked what changes McLaren made to his car, Norris reiterated that the only major change the team brought was a new rear wing. However, he then shared that the difference made was less than a tenth.
“No, there’s not really. I mean, we have a different rear wing. Which is probably not even a tenth, more like half a tenth, which still makes a difference when you say how close it is. But really, over the last three or four weeks, we’ve not had anything that’s helped that much in performance or is really going to move us forward.”
According to the Briton, the performance improvement seen at the 2026 F1 Belgian GP thus far was due to the layout of the circuit. Norris further explained that his MCL40’s performance fluctuated depending on the track, as evident from the team’s strong performance in Miami.
Norris had clinched a Sprint race victory from pole and a P2 finish in the main race at the Miami International Autodrome, earlier in the season. It would be his best weekend of the 2026 season to date, where he clinched a total of 26 points.
“I think there have always been little bits, and we always try to bring little bits every weekend, but there’s not been anything. It’s simply the car performing better on a different track. We performed well in Miami. We’ve had a couple of other races that were not so good, but we’re up and down simply because of how the track suits the car each time.”
Norris is a lot more comfortable in his McLaren at the 2026 F1 Belgian GP
However, another important factor was Norris himself. The Briton also revealed that he was more comfortable in his McLaren this weekend and was able to extract more out of it. Nevertheless, he recognises that there is still more to be done on his McLaren. He then shared that the team was working hard to improve it.
“I also feel like, honestly, I’ve been doing a very good job. I feel like all weekend I’ve been very confident with the car and getting everything out of it since FP1. My lap in Q3, honestly, was probably one of the best laps I’ve ever done in qualifying. So I’ve been very pleased with my performance all season. But, like I said on Thursday, it doesn’t matter if you do the best lap of your life. It doesn’t mean you’re on pole all of a sudden. We just need to add more performance to the car. It’s quite simple, and everyone in the factory is working on that.”
Norris’ main goal for the 2026 F1 Belgian GP
While he will be starting in P13, he is confident he can easily make it into the points. Norris shared that his main goal for the 2026 F1 Belgian GP would be to place himself back in the race with the other top three teams.
“It’s tough to say. I’ll just do my best to come back through and get well into the points. I think we’re clearly much quicker than quite a few of the cars. Gabi has done a good job, as always. The Racing Bulls, or the upgraded one of Arvid, looks pretty racy at times, so I’m confident we can at least get past all of these guys. It’s more about how far into the top six or eight, from a Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari point of view, we can get back in the race with these guys. So that’s just the target.”
The mindset does not change
Norris then reflected that his mindset going into the 2026 F1 Belgian GP would not differ much from any weekend. He plans to drive to the best of his ability and maximise his pace as always. The 28-year-old is looking to perfect his opening lap and make up as many positions as possible.
He added that the remainder of the race would be decided by the ease of overtaking. Nonetheless, he is optimistic that he will be able to move up the order with ease.
“Honestly, it’s not too different. You’re trying to do your best in every race. You put together as many good plans as you can. Clearly, the pace is pretty good. It’s close, so it’s not like we’re easily going to be able to get back in the fight with the top group. But, of course, a good start and a good first lap can easily get me back where I want to be quickly.
“From then on, it just depends on how easy overtaking is or how difficult it is. I don’t think it’s going to be crazy easy, but there are a lot of possibilities. Honestly, it’s not that different because you do your best in every race. You’re always attacking. For me, that’s always what works best. I guess we’ll probably come up with a few more scenarios. If overtaking is easy or hard, and we can’t get back into the top six, seven or eight that quickly, what else can we do to bring us back into the fight? But apart from that, I’m confident we’ll be able to get up there pretty quickly.”
