Lando Norris bemoans a difficult car as McLaren fails to impress in the F1 Singapore GP qualifying
Lando Norris believes the McLaren car was not good enough around the Marina Bay street circuit to maximise its performance. Speaking to media, including VisionF1, after qualifying in Singapore, the reigning champion admitted to struggling with the car’s drivability.
Norris qualified fifth, while his teammate Oscar Piastri secured seventh on the grid for the 2026 Singapore GP. Neither McLaren driver was able to maximise their potential in the final qualifying session. The Briton was three-tenths of a second off Max Verstappen’s pole position time of 1:31.373.
Norris lamented the car’s drivability, claiming McLaren had lacked performance throughout the weekend. He felt the car was unpredictable during qualifying, despite showing occasional glimpses of potential. The McLaren driver also struggled with the car’s balance, with its unpredictability tempting him to overdrive it and making the session particularly challenging. He felt he had to push the car to the limit to produce a competitive lap time.
Asked by Vision F1 where he lost performance despite looking competitive in some of the sessions, Lando Norris said:
“No, we just are where we have been all weekend. Nothing’s changed. We are not quick enough. I mean, there were moments where I would do a good sector one or a good sector two, but the car is just so, so difficult to drive. Yeah, it’s just too difficult to drive, hence we are P5 and P7. But, you know, it felt like there was potential and it felt like I could maybe put together some magical lap in Q3 if things just went my way. But today it was just too tricky, from a car perspective, to be at its limit, where if I push 101%, it’s I’m finished, if I push 99% unfinished. So it’s balancing it too much and on a track like this with the bumps and everything, it was just too difficult. So, um, no reasons, no excuses, just not quite good enough.”
Asked about the factors limiting his performance, Norris replied:
“More, the unpredictability of the car. It’s not like we can just let the car kind of do a lot of the work, and then, add finesse to it. Like, the car doesn’t feel great and you have to really make it and force it to get a lot of lap time out. On a track like this, where the tires degrade, through the lap, where you need good traction, you need a good rear. As soon as you feel like you put together a good sector one, sector two is bad or sector three. So it’s just your car is simply not quick enough, which means you have to overdrive. And when you have to overdrive, it’s just so easy to make a mistake, especially on a track like this.”
Lando Norris believes that the McLaren car performed much better in Singapore than in Malaysia
Lando Norris believes the McLaren was easier to manoeuvre around the Marina Bay street circuit. He felt the car’s aerodynamic efficiency had been compromised by the characteristics of the Sepang circuit compared to Marina Bay. The Briton clarified that McLaren’s performance issues in qualifying were different from Mercedes’ struggles, as the latter’s car appeared more sensitive to the bumpy and abrasive track surface. Norris felt McLaren had made progress in Singapore, finishing just three-tenths of a second behind the pole position time.
Asked by Vision F1, if McLaren’s issue with the bumps on the tracks was similar to Mercedes’ sensitivity to the abrasive tracks surface
“No, the track surface is much better than Malaysia. It’s clear what we’ve learned that Malaysia is just not good for our car. A lot of things stop working from an aero [aerodynamic] point of view. We’ve been better here, like considering I’m not feeling like I can do a good lap and I’m three tenths off is not a bad thing in a way, if I want to look at it from that side. It just means if we can make a slightly easier car. You can start to find three tenths quite quickly. So there were still good signs. It’s all better, I am so happy comparing to Malaysia that we have some speed in the car. But just, yeah, unhappy for a different reason, anyway.”
Lando Norris has dropped to sixth in the drivers’ championship after being overtaken by Max Verstappen. The duo were tied on 188 points, but the Dutchman’s sprint race win in Singapore moved him ahead of the Briton by seven points. Norris has secured two race wins and three additional podium finishes this season. McLaren are third in the constructors’ championship with 317 points but are being closely challenged by Red Bull Racing, who sit fourth with 306 points.
