Norris Confidence 'Even Higher' as He Eyes Title Defence
Lando Norris secured the 2025 Formula 1 drivers' championship by a narrow margin of two points over Max Verstappen. Following this achievement, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has stated that Norris' confidence heading into the 2026 season is "even higher."
During the launch of McLaren's new car, held two days before the second pre-season test in Bahrain, Brown emphasized Norris' ambition to become a multiple title winner. He also highlighted the competitive prospects of Norris' teammate, Oscar Piastri, who led much of last season's championship before experiencing a decline in the final stages.
"There are some drivers that say, 'I've done it, now I'm done.'
And then you have drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen and Michael Schumacher who go, I've done it once, now I want to do it twice and three and four times.
Lando's confidence is very high. He's highly motivated. It's our job to give he and Oscar equipment again to be able to let him fight it out for the championship. But if we can do that, I would think Oscar and Lando will both be in with a shout."
Brown confirmed that McLaren will continue to allow their drivers to race each other freely for the title, as was the case last year. He noted that the team would remain strategic and intelligent in managing situations but emphasized minimal changes to their approach.
"They continue to be free to race. Again, we will be strategic and intelligent when situations arise. There won't be much change because they were free to race last year,"
Brown expressed optimism about McLaren's strength heading into the new season, which commences with the Australian Grand Prix from March 6-8. He referenced the initial 'shakedown' test in Spain, noting that McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull all appeared competitive.
"Very risky to judge. Spain, what I would say is we feel like we'll be competitive.
Very early days, but indications that we will be strong. But it would be premature to make any predictions beyond that."
Compression Ratio Row 'Typical F1 Politics'
Brown addressed the ongoing controversy in Formula 1 concerning engine regulations, specifically the compression ratio limits. Mercedes' competitors have lodged complaints with the FIA, alleging that Mercedes has circumvented the maximum compression ratio of 16:1 by exploiting material expansion due to heat, potentially gaining a power advantage estimated at 0.3 seconds per lap. Discussions on this matter are ongoing.
As McLaren uses Mercedes customer engines, Brown dismissed the controversy as typical F1 politics, affirming that the Mercedes engine complies fully with the rules and has passed all tests.
"It's typical politics of Formula 1. The engine has been designed and totally compliant within the rules. That's what the sport is about. I don't believe there's a significant advantage.
They'll make some story out of it, but reality is the engine is completely compliant past all its tests."
When asked if the dispute might force Mercedes to modify their engine before the season opener, potentially causing issues, Brown expressed confidence that Mercedes-powered teams would participate in the Australian Grand Prix.
"I can't imagine that you wouldn't have Mercedes teams on the grid in Australia."
Regarding the complexity of energy management under the new regulations introduced this year, Brown stated it is too early to determine whether customer teams like McLaren will face disadvantages compared to manufacturer teams.
"We know we get the same stuff. We've proven the last couple of years that a customer team is not at a disadvantage of a works team, so I don't see any reason why that won't continue.
But I don't think we yet have a full understanding of how to best use these power units. Maybe something will come to light, but not seeing that at the moment."
