Lando Norris 'completely agrees' he won't win 2026 F1 championship

F1 champion Lando Norris has admitted he agrees with early rumours that McLaren won't be the ones to beat in 2026.

The British racer achieved his childhood dream of becoming F1 champion last season, clinching the drivers' title at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix by earning just two more points than Max Verstappen after 24 rounds.

Norris fought off both the four-time champion in the shape of Verstappen and his own McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, but with just one month to go until the first grand prix of 2026, it is none of last year's top three who are the bookies' favourite to claim the first championship of the new regulations cycle.

Mercedes have mastered regulation changes in the past and already proved their reliability at the Barcelona shakedown in January when George Russell and Kimi Antonelli managed to complete a whopping 500 laps between them across their three days of testing.

Toto Wolff's outfit put in the most laps out of any of the 10 teams that attended the private testing, and the bookmaker's favourite heading into the season isn't reigning champion Norris, but instead, his long-time friend Russell.

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Norris: 'I completely believe Russell will win a championship'

Ahead of next week's first round of official 2026 pre-season testing in Bahrain, Norris sat down with Sky Sports' Craig Slater, who kindly pointed out to the Brit that it was Russell who was the bookmaker's favourite, not him.

"He is the massive favourite to be honest with you. I completely agree with the bookmakers," said Norris, agreeing with the early hype that Mercedes will be above McLaren in the 2026 competitive order.

Slater then suggested Mercedes would be strong because of their engine formula, but given that McLaren remain a customer team of Mercedes, what does Norris think about the papaya team’s chances of catching up to the Silver Arrows should they prove to be the ones to beat in 2026?

“I think it's hard to say that,” Norris said when asked if he thought the new engine might take longer for McLaren to get used to than Mercedes.

“You know, it's a big task. Like when you see what goes into making a car, it's the same level for an engine or even more. They've been working on this for years already. So, everything takes time," he continued.

"There's stuff that they're going to be learning. There's stuff that we're going to learn, but we're still part of the same family, the same engine supplier, and that's a great thing for us.

“We work together as a unity, and they've done an incredible job in every other regulation change when the engine's been new and refreshed and everything. I mean, we're confident. We always are going to have things to try and improve on and to learn on, but they've done a very good job with us over the last few years. We have a pleasure to work with them and that will continue for many more years.”

Norris then reflected on how he would feel about a title battle with his fellow countryman, touching on whether it would impact their friendly relationship.

“Me and George get along well," the 26-year-old said.

"It's not like we talk every day, but I think we have a lot of respect for one another. I think he shows that towards me and I completely believe he'll win a championship in the future. So whether that's this year or next year, whatever it may be. I've enjoyed my battles with him and he's a lovely guy."

When does the 2026 F1 season start?

Norris will be in action with McLaren when the 2026 season starts in Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix. The first race of the year takes place on March 8 at 3pm local time (AEDT), 4am GMT, and 11pm ET. The first round of pre-season tests in Bahrain will kick off before then on February 11 until 13, and the second round continues from February 18 until February 20.

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