Lando Norris warns F1 2026 races could see chaos from complex battery tactics

Lando Norris has predicted there will be more “chaos” in F1 this season but ultimately believes there will still be a gap between the top four teams and the rest of the grid.

The sweeping regulation changes for this season has raised hopes that the established order could be shaken up but reigning World Champion Norris predicted the previous year’s top four will retain their spots.

Lando Norris predicts ‘chaos’ but makes top four assessment

For the last three seasons, Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren have occupied the top four spots in the Constructors’ standings. However, predicting them to do so again this year is riskier than ever before given the enormity of the regulation changes.

While the other seven outfits on the grid will be hoping for a mix up of the established order, Norris is keen that McLaren reasserts itself as a leading presence. Further, he predicts that the top four will remain the same in 2026.

“We’ve just done a couple days literally, so I still expect you to see the top four teams at the at the front and then potentially a bit of a gap to some of the others,” he told Sky Sports.

“But we’ve seen over the last few years how close Williams got. Many times the Alpines. Haas, at times were incredibly quick.

“So I expect everyone to be a challenger at some point, and especially in the first year of a regulation every weekend, you’re going to see new bits on every single car, and you’re going to see the development race within Formula 1, which is exciting.

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“It’s cool for us, even as drivers, to get to see we’ve got a new front wing, a new rear wing, new floor, whatever it might be.

“That’s a cool thing for us, but that means this year, because you’re going to be learning so much, you just want to keep pushing the whole way.”

Despite the prediction, Norris also suggested how drivers use the battery, which produces 50 percent of the car’s power, will bring more “chaos” to races.

“There’s a different level of processing that’s needed for the cars this year in order to understand how to use the battery, how to use the PU in all the best ways which will create, probably at times, more chaos.

“More like ‘oh, how’s he done that?’ And used more battery and then he pays the price for that, and there’s going to be more chaos, in a way.

“So hopefully for everyone on the outside, they can try to learn these things and understand these things, because they’ve certainly not made F1 more simple from that fact.

“But over the course of time, because everyone’s early on in this process, we’ll learn how to get the most out of it.”

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