Lando Norris agrees with Verstappen: “It’s got nothing to do with the driver”

Reaching the podium just twice in ten Grand Prix weekends is rather meagre for a Formula 1 champion: Lando Norris’s interim record for 2026 – and no one can sugar-coat this – is sobering; there is no longer any sign of the Papaya cars’ former dominance.

A few examples? Norris hasn’t started a single Grand Prix from the front row in 2026; apart from P2 in Miami and P3 in Barcelona, he hasn’t managed another podium finish; in two of the last three races – in Austria and Belgium – he finished only seventh.

Yet Norris was the benchmark in Hungary: in 2024 he put his McLaren on pole, and in 2025 he won the Grand Prix on his way to the World Championship title.

Norris, too, is struggling with the 2026 generation of race cars; he echoes the criticism voiced by Max Verstappen at the Hungaroring. The Dutchman believes: “Many overtaking manoeuvres are unnatural and have little to do with the driver’s skills.”

Norris says: “There are still plenty of things under the driver’s control, but some aspects of these power units lead you to think – this has nothing to do with the driver.”

Topic of the week

From major doubts to a major spectacle: why GP fans have reason to be delighted

Before the start of the season, critical voices dominated, but the World Championship rounds so far have shown that the rule changes are delivering exactly what was hoped for: excitement right up to the final lap.

Read more

TV program

Live

Budapest: Das Rennen Re-Live

FIA Formula One World Championship

26.07.2026 - 17:15

“I think it’s a real shame that so many things are dictated to you, especially in qualifying. Sometimes you just hope you’re lucky and that the power unit actually does what you need it to.”

“I’ve been struggling all year. In Belgium, I was reasonably happy for the first time, but Oscar Piastri was having difficulties. Yet that’s not down to him either. It’s just that the powertrains do what they want every now and then.”