MOTORSPORT – Reigning Formula One drivers’ world champion Lando Norris is heading into the new season confident that he can retain his crown, although acknowledged it will not be as simple as doing “the same thing again” following the biggest rule changes in F1 history.
“I’ll do my best to defend (the title) and continue (to be champion), but it’s a new season with loads of new challenges – it’s not as simple as just continuing from last year and saying ‘It’s the same thing again’,” Norris said yesterday in an F1 drivers’ Press conference held on the sidelines of the second day of week two in F1 Aramco Pre-Season Testing 2026 at Bahrain International Circuit.
Norris secured last year’s F1 drivers’ world championship following a tight and exciting battle that went down to the wire with Red Bull Racing’s four-time F1 drivers’ world champion Max Verstappen and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri. At the end of the final race in Abu Dhabi, only 13 points separated the trio, with Norris beating out Verstappen by just two points.
“Certainly after last year and winning the championship, it has given me the confidence,” said Norris. “It’s reassuring to know that I’ve done it once, and therefore, I believe I can do it again, so that’s a good thing.
“But it’s a long season, and I’ll make sure I do my part and, together as a team, we’ll make sure we give ourselves the best opportunity to do it again.
“At the minute, we have to improve the car quite a bit if we want to compete a bit more to feel confident for the first race. I feel confident, I feel better than I have ever done.”
The 26-year-old Briton said that he continues to remain as motivated as ever, even after already reaching the summit in the pinnacle of motorsport. His F1 drivers’ title in 2025 came in his seventh season, all of which have been with Bahrain-owned McLaren, who are also defending back-to-back F1 constructors’ world champion.
“I love it – I’m sure every single driver loves to stand on the podium, to win, to celebrate,” said Norris. “But my motivation to work, to do well, to become better, of course kind of starts with the vision of wanting to win, but at the end of the day, it’s my team and the people that I have around me – the people that I want to do well for – so, as long as I have them, then nothing changes for me.”
Norris greets McLaren team principal Andrea Stella in the F1 paddock at BIC
Norris added that he has been encouraged by McLaren’s form during the pre-season tests, although noted that there is still plenty of work to do to get their MCL40 ready for the campaign’s opening race in Melbourne, Australia, next month.
“I think we made some good steps from last week to this week already, some little things on the car that we’ve done arrived, and we’re further testing,” he said.
“From our own programme, we got through a lot of things – we did what we wanted to. We got a good understanding of tyres and balances and things like that, strengths and weaknesses.
“For me, I’ve only got one more (afternoon session) tomorrow, and then the next stop is Australia, so it’s coming quickly. But as far as the tests go, I think we got through a lot of our stuff.
“We know where we’re missing out and what we really need to focus on, but it’s hard to improve as much as what you would like right now. Just as far as understanding our own stuff, understanding the car, we’ve done a good job – the team are doing a good job, and that’s all we can ask for for now.”
Norris admitted that, looking ahead to the 2026 F1 world championship, he doesn’t expect to have the same advantages McLaren enjoyed last year.
“I know there are some things that were our strengths last year that will continue to be our strengths this season, but there’s a lot of work just to get the balance in a good window,” Norris explained.
“The car worked very well last year – it was difficult to understand, but it worked well – and it’s all just very, very early days for this car at the moment, so we’ll be continuing to look into that.
“(Last year), even when we had a bad qualifying, we knew we would have a good Sunday, and that was always something to look forward to.
“The team are working hard on every area, that includes race pace, tyre cooling, all of those things. But at the minute, yeah, we just kind of got to improve in most areas.”
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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