Lando Norris has admitted that he doesn’t expect to be in a position to challenge for a Formula 1 title with McLaren until the upcoming reset to the technical regulations in 2026.
The speculation linking Norris with a switch to Red Bull for 2025 ended last week when McLaren announced that he had signed a long-term extension with the team.
The Briton had been inspired to renew with the Woking-based squad after an incredible mid-season turnaround last term elevated it into regular podium-scoring contention.
That has heightened expectations that McLaren is the side best placed to close on Red Bull, who dominated the previous campaign en route to 21 wins from 22 races.
But while Norris is optimistic he can end his elusive wait for a maiden F1 win in 2024, he has cautioned that predicting a tilt at the championship might be a tad premature.
“[There were] moments we were close to winning races last year, and a few races we were not miles away from a Red Bull,” he told Autosport. “And, when you think of it, it was the most competitive car ever in F1.
“So, with the knowledge of, if you want to win one race, we are the closest we’ve ever been since I’ve been here at McLaren and for many, many years. But fighting for a championship is a bigger step.
“If you asked me, ‘Do you think you can win races this year?’ I’d probably be more inclined to say yes.
“But to go straight into, ‘can you win races and a championship?’ I think that’s another level both for myself because racing at the very top is not something I’ve necessarily done for a while, but also for the whole team, for everyone here in the factory.
“It’s a different level of pressure and excitement for the mechanics.”
Norris reckons McLaren has the potential to beat its rivals when it maximises a weekend but asserts that managing to do that consistently represents a different challenge.
“Do I think we’re ready to challenge them? Absolutely in those situations, and there’s opportunities where we’ve been fighting against Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, and we’ve been fighting them and going against them head to head in strategy and pitstops and all of those things,” he acknowledged.
“The majority of the time we’ve executed things extremely well. So, when it comes to pressure, I think everyone here is in a very good position.
“But as soon as you do mention fighting for a championship, I think everyone’s mentality just changes that little bit. But I feel I’m ready to go against Max and Lewis and fight against them.
“It just comes down to consistency and small decisions along the way, which are hard to predict when you’re going against these guys, because you never know what their next move is and, at the same time, they never know what our next move is.”
Instead, Norris is convinced that the drastic overhaul to the technical regulations in 2026 will provide McLaren’s best opportunity to return to competing for title honours again.
“The championship, as much as I would love to say over the next two years, ’26 is an opportunity for everyone on the grid,” he admitted. “So that’s the big, big question mark.
“But we’ll see how we do this year and then you can ask me the question again.”
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