Lando Norris insists McLaren are “a long way behind” pace-setters Mercedes after a difficult 2026 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix.
Norris rounded off a tough weekend at the Red Bull Ring with a seventh-placed finish, after the 71-lap race, on Sunday.
The McLaren driver finished more than half-a-minute behind the eventual race-winner, George Russell – powered by the same Mercedes power unit that was in the back of his MCL40.
But when suggested that his package seemed to be at par with that of Russell’s, this weekend, Norris swiftly batted those suggestions away.
“We’re a long way behind,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
Norris was only able to post the sixth-fastest lap during the top-10 shootout, on Saturday, and that, he felt spoke volumes about the gap between McLaren and Mercedes.
“There’s a reason he [Russell] is on pole by four tenths,” he added.
The 2025 F1 World Champion reasoned that while the MCL40 was a substantial margin adrift of the leading pack, the high thermal degradation didn’t help his cause either.
Norris deemed the Woking-based team’s car “incredibly difficult to drive” and that it would take some concerted effort back at base to rectify its competitiveness.
“I think we still struggled with the balance and it’s still incredibly difficult to drive the car,” Norris explained.
“I expect that’s probably a similar story for everyone on track today, so we didn’t change anything, we still have the same struggles and we just need time still to improve it.”
Lando Norris ‘shocked’ by Ferrari deficit at F1 Austrian GP
The Maranello-based squad came into the race weekend at the Red Bull Ring off the back of a sensational maiden win for Hamilton, at Barcelona, two weeks ago.
Riding on the wave of that particular feat, Ferrari also brought engine upgrades to Spielberg under the FIA’s ADUO scheme.
That said, the SF-26’s race pace was severely lacking, especially on the straights – something that came as quite a “shock” for Norris.
“I mean I would say the pace seems to be a little bit better than we probably expected into Sunday, the shock was probably Ferrari today struggling so much,” he said.
“So, to be honest I feel bad for them, I mean when you have no power you have to push like hell in the corners and you can’t do that with these kind of tyres, so it’s a tough race for them but otherwise not a bad race.”
Norris would be hoping for a better outing for himself and McLaren, next weekend, given how F1 is moving onto the storied Silverstone circuit for the 2026 British GP.
READ MORE – George Russell resists Max Verstappen challenge in Austria to reignite F1 title hopes
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