Lando Norris Slams New 2026 Formula One Engine Rules in Honest Admission

The 2025 World Champion found himself way off the pace on race day in Australia.

McLaren Racing

So much can change in a singular year.

McLaren driver Lando Norris might be coming to terms with this quickly, as his team has gone from being the best constructor on the grid by some margin in 2025 to looking some way off the pace compared to the leading cars at the Australian Grand Prix.

The Briton's weekend had already been hampered by an incident involving Mercedes that was somewhat out of his control in qualifying, and ultimately could not improve much from his sixth-placed starting position he found himself in.

Norris says new regulations could cause a 'lot of damage'

Norris was the only McLaren driver to start the race after Oscar Piastri's premature crash. | McLaren Racing and Mastercard via Omnicom

In a race where George Russell stormed to victory with teammate Kimi Antonelli following close behind, there were few positive takeaways from Sunday's race involving McLaren.

Oscar Piastri crashing out on his way to the grid meant that the papaya cars were not off to a great start, regardless, and Norris was never able to match the pace of either Mercedes or the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, who finished third and fourth.

The ten points Norris picked up thanks to P5 at Albert Park mean he has something to take away from the first race of the year, but the 26-year-old was unhappy with both his performance and how the cars raced in his post-race interview with the media.

Not the first race of the season we had hoped for. Lots of learnings to take away before we reset ahead of a Sprint weekend in China ➡️#McLarenF1 | #AusGP 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/HvOQ60Kr9S

— McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team (@McLarenF1) March 8, 2026

On how he felt throughout the race, which saw him battle with Max Verstappen in the final few laps, Norris was candid.

"We’re a very long way off the cars ahead, but I put up a good fight with Max [Verstappen]. I didn’t think we were going to stay ahead at the halfway point because he was already behind me, and he started last! We improved [and] we learned along the way—that was an important thing for us today. ”

Norris on fighting for P5

On the regulations ushered in following Formula One's ground effect era, Norris was much less positive compared to drivers who finished on the podium, such as Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc.

"[The battery-powered overtaking is] way too much—it’s chaos... there’s gonna be a big accident, which is a shame that you’re kind of driving, and we’re the ones just waiting for something to happen and something to go quite horribly wrong, and that’s not a nice position to be in... nothing we can really do about that now... it’s very artificial."

Norris on regulations

Norris' emphasis on an accident potentially occurring could be influenced by what happened to team-mate Oscar Piastri on the reconnaissance lap, with the Aussie enraged by the incident and saying that torque-induced incidents like the one he had simply 'shouldn't be happening."