Lando Norris airs McLaren warning despite commanding Brazil win

Lando Norris has claimed that McLaren is still “not at the level to fight for a world championship”, despite prevailing with the team’s latest upgrades in the São Paulo Grand Prix.

Norris mastered the rain to win for the second season running at Interlagos, crossing the line over 14 seconds ahead of a recovering Max Verstappen in the leading Red Bull.

Lando Norris reflects on dominant Brazilian GP victory

However, the Briton’s third victory of 2026 was not as plain sailing as the end margin suggested, given that he dropped two spots from first to third on the opening lap.

Starting on pole position, Norris lost out to Kimi Antonelli on the run to the first turn and then ceded another place when Liam Lawson snuck up his inside through Turn 2.

“I wasn’t too pleased,” Norris admitted. “It was just on me. I think Liam was in my blind spot and I just couldn’t see where he was. I don’t know if he was behind me or what, so it was difficult to know where I needed to be. That one I just had to accept.

“The launch? I’m not too sure what happened. I thought I did things correctly, but [I] just went straight into wheelspin, so I just need to review that one.

“Otherwise, I wasn’t too pleased, but I also knew it was a race where things could easily change, whether it was with Safety Cars or the rain. It was a race where a lot could happen, so I was patient.

“Normally, I probably would get a little bit more angry in that situation, but I stayed patient, and things came back to me beautifully.”

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But while Norris had slipped to as much as eight seconds behind Antonelli even once he had cleared Lawson’s Racing Bulls, quick thinking on the McLaren pit wall to bring him into the pits for slicks a lap earlier than his rival all but wiped out the gap.

And when Antonelli spun at Turn 1 on Lap 20, Norris inherited a lead that he would not relinquish, despite another shower descending on the circuit in the closing stages.

Asked where this ranks among his 14 victories in Formula 1 to date, Norris replied: “I think it’s certainly up there in terms of challenge. A challenge to achieve, not made easy for, I guess, all the reasons possible.

“Not the best start and obviously coming back from there, but a lot of challenges from just strategy and conditions, whether trying out or managing the inters, getting on the slicks, not making mistakes on the slicks, especially into Turn 1 and a lot of the wetter places, and then vice versa, going back onto the inters at the end and managing the slicks in the wet conditions.

“So, a lot thrown at everyone on a day like today, but it was probably one of our best races in terms of execution and pit stops, timing of things.

“I was eight seconds behind Kimi before the pit stop. He boxed one lap early onto the slicks. I came out and was right behind him and forced him to push a little bit more, and obviously he went into a mistake and I could capitalise on it.

“So, I think in terms of always being there where we needed to be, being able to put people under pressure was a very good day for that.

“Also, from my side, just not making any mistakes, which is so easy to do on a day like today.

“So, great performance from the whole team. Certainly up there with one of the best I’ve ever had.”

Norris’ return to the top step ended McLaren’s five-race run without a podium and coincided with the side introducing multiple upgrades – including a new front wing.

However, the reigning world champion has cautioned that the newest revisions to the MCL40 have not suddenly turned the Woking-based squad into the benchmark team.

Pressed on whether he thinks he would have won a completely dry race, Norris retorted: “Who knows? I don’t. I won the race, so that’s all I care about for now.

“I think if we look at the stats of the practice sessions and stuff, we were generally always a tenth or two tenths behind the top.

“The upgrades we brought this weekend were great. They worked as they should have done, so if we didn’t bring them, we’d be further behind. Simple as that. But it’s still not enough. They’re not enough to say you’re suddenly always the quickest.

“I think on a day like today, it’s not all about that. It’s about good strategy, good pit stops, driving well and not making mistakes.

“I certainly had a car that I could fight for a win with today, and that’s very important. Those things would help. It’s hard to quantify how much it’s helped, but upgrades always do, and they worked well. So, the team has done a very good job.

“But as much as we’re happy we’ve managed to bring things and take a step forward, and come away with a pole and a win, we’re not as happy as we could be because we also know we’re not good enough. We’re not at the level we need to be.

“We’re not confident in the package we have just yet. We’re getting there slowly. We want to do it quicker, but that’s difficult.

“We know we still have work to do, and we’re not at the level we need to be to fight for a World Championship just yet.

“So, I’m proud of the team for the work they’re doing, but we all know that we still have work to do.”

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