Lando Norris confident for 2026, yet calls for major McLaren improvements. Lando Norris is preparing to defend his 2025 Formula 1 world title.

F1 | Norris ready to defend his title in 2026, but warns McLaren: “We need to improve”

Lando Norris is gearing up for the 2026 Formula 1 season with one clear objective: defending his world title. However, the reigning champion has warned that McLaren still needs further development work on the new MCL40 before the season opener if they want to be genuine contenders.

Norris suggested that, based on what was seen during pre-season testing, McLaren may not yet be in a position to fully support his bid to retain the Formula 1 drivers’ championship. Despite this, the British driver expressed strong confidence in the team, convinced that the necessary upgrades will arrive in time.

McLaren experienced a solid pre-season testing phase, but compared to their direct rivals, the Woking-based squad managed to stay somewhat under the radar. When asked whether he feels the responsibility of defending the title this year, Norris replied: “Honestly, I don’t think it’s a responsibility. I mean, there’s always responsibility in life…”

“I’ll do my best to defend it and continue on this path. But it’s a new season with many new challenges. It’s not as simple as just continuing from last year and saying it’s going to be the same. At the moment, from what we’re seeing, we need to improve the car quite a lot if we want to compete more and feel confident for the first race.”

The 2025 world champion also underlined the confidence he gained from last season’s success: “I feel confident. I feel better than ever. Obviously, after last year and winning the championship, that gave me confidence,” he added. “It’s reassuring to know that I’ve done it once, so I believe I can do it again. That’s a positive thing.”

At the same time, Lando Norris is fully aware of the scale of the challenge ahead in what promises to be a long and demanding campaign: “But it’s going to be a long season, and I’ll make sure I do my part. And together as a team we’ll make sure we give ourselves the best opportunity to do it again,” concluded the 2025 Formula 1 world champion.