McLaren driver and current F1 World Champion Lando Norris finished 3rd in the 2026 Spanish GP behind Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen. It is a race he should have won.
Starting on pole at the new Madrid circuit, the 26-year-old kept the lead once the Italian driver gave him the place back as he cut turns 1 and 5.
From there, he disappeared. The two-time race winner in 2026 built over a 6s gap to the championship leader. However, Lance Stroll stopping at the run-off into turn 20 with braking issues turned it all around.
A VSC was deployed when Norris had already gone around the final corner. The race resumed before he made it back around. McLaren decided to box him anyway. A 7s stop brought back out in P5. The stops of George Russell and Charles Leclerc moved him back into 3rd.
Having rejoined almost 10s behind Max Verstappen on lap 16, the British driver closed to within a second 26 tours later to show he was rapid on both mediums and hards. Ultimately there was no chance of overtaking the four-time World Champion.
Nonetheless, he proved in the first stint he was the quickest driver on track and would have won without some terrible luck. For the third time in four Grands Prix, he was the fastest one on a Sunday, although it did not turn into a P1 this time.
Lando Norris on the costly VSC moment at the 2026 F1 Spanish GP
“There was nothing I could do. Congrats to Kimi and Max. They drove a good race today, so just luck not on our side.
“And I gave it a good fight, you know, to try and catch up with Max, but difficult to pass. He didn’t really make any mistakes.
“And yeah, a tough race, one that just got away from us. I felt like we deserved it today, but that’s racing sometimes. So we’ll take it on the chin and try again next time.”
A reflective World Champion
While Lando Norris was correct to rue his misfortune, race interruptions have gone his way in the past, as he noted also. For his first win at the 2024 Miami GP, he jumped from a net P6 to 1st thanks to staying out and the Safety Car falling his way.
In qualifying, the British driver had stunned the field to take pole. His race performance was also exceptional throughout but did not get rewarded with a win, which led to understandable disappointment.
“It depends how you define “got away”.
“It’s not like we did anything that made us lose it. We were just insanely unlucky today. I was the only one on the whole grid, that didn’t get the chance to do the pit stop. That’s just unfortunate.
“You know, it’s happened in races and there’s been plenty of times where I’ve gained from it in the past and times where I’ve lost from it, and it’s racing, but never when fighting for a win. So, I think it’s probably one of the first times a win has been lost simply because of it.
“But yeah, it’s frustrating, especially after the performance yesterday and the performance I was putting in at the beginning of the race, and I had all race, in fact. Of course I feel like I deserved more today, but the others also did a good race and I have to give credit to that too.”
Why he did not stay out
As the hard tyre was extremely durable and fast, McLaren opted against keeping Lando Norris out on track on used mediums. Nonetheless, it could have been a risk worth taking as Russell and Leclerc needed to pit anyway, guaranteeing he would have ended up where he eventually finished.
“I had to come in at the end of the lap because it was the only chance.
“It was, like, still effectively some pit loss, the fact that everyone’s kind of on colder tyres and you’re still minimising the pit loss. The Medium tyre was destroyed and the Hard tyre was amazing. So yeah, just, I don’t know, unfortunate.
“But the pace was very, very strong and on the Hard tyre was, you know, I think we, I know they were stuck, we caught up 13, 14 seconds or more, almost. So, plenty of positives. A day full of positives, just one thing let it all down.”
Norris hopeful of more wins in F1 2026
Aside from Miami, McLaren never looked like a contender to fight for Grand Prix wins in 2026. They had a slow start following their efforts to get over the line last year. Struggles to understand the Mercedes PU and unreliability also hampered them badly.
Thanks to some upgrades and some outstanding performances by the British driver, thought, they have won two of the last four Sunday contests. He was also fastest in Madrid.
Speaking in the 2026 F1 Spanish GP post-race press conference, Lando Norris is hopeful more wins can come before the year is out.
“It’s tough. Tough to know. These things don’t come easy, you know.
“I do feel like I’m working hard and I’m getting a lot out of the car. Yesterday was a pretty phenomenal lap to get pole. I feel like I drove a perfect race today. Just luck wasn’t with me.
“We’ll keep it up. The team are doing an amazing job. We’re working hard. We have to continue to work hard because these guys are doing a good job and it’s tough at the top.
“So yeah, we’ll keep pushing, keep trying, and more wins are possible. So we’ll keep our head up and keep pushing.”
