Formula 1, Sportrik Media - Lando Norris has pointed to a long-standing tyre graining problem that McLaren must resolve following the opening round of the 2026 Formula 1 season at the Australian Grand Prix.
The reigning world champion finished 51 seconds behind race winner George Russell in Melbourne, despite both McLaren and Mercedes running the same Mercedes HPP power unit. The result highlighted the current competitive gap between the leading teams at the start of the new Formula 1 era.
At Albert Park, Mercedes and Ferrari established themselves at the front of the field, while McLaren and Red Bull Racing appeared locked in a battle for third place in the competitive order. The top four teams have also opened a clear margin over the rest of the grid early in the season.
Despite the sizeable gap to Russell in the final classification, Norris stressed that the 51-second deficit did not fully reflect the true performance of the MCL40. However, he admitted the car continues to suffer from tyre graining, an issue that has carried over from previous McLaren designs.
“With the following and overtaking, all those things make a big difference, so on pure pace, are we 50 seconds behind? No,” Norris said.
“If I had a clean race like George, then it would look better for us, but we killed the tyres after three laps. And then we have our graining issues, as we have had, and that has not changed from one car to the next, so we have a lot to try and figure out.”
Norris added that McLaren’s current position in the competitive hierarchy reflects a mixed picture for the Woking-based team. While it maintains a comfortable margin over the midfield, the gap to the leading teams remains significant.
“The good thing is that we have a big gap to the cars behind, which are similar to Red Bull, and the bad thing is that we have a big gap to the cars ahead.”
“So the race was more of an understanding that we are nowhere near where we need to be with the car, and we’ve got to improve that.”
The analysis from the Australian Grand Prix now becomes crucial as McLaren prepares for the next phase of the championship. With development work continuing ahead of the upcoming races, the team faces pressure to address tyre management weaknesses if it aims to close the performance gap to Mercedes and Ferrari in the early rounds of the 2026 season.
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