McLaren F1 issue Lando Norris update after investigation at Japanese Grand Prix

Lando Norris, McLaren, Bahrain, 2026 — Photo: © IMAGO

Japanese Grand Prix

McLaren issue Lando Norris update after investigation at Japanese Grand Prix

McLaren have released a statement on Lando Norris' issues at Suzuka

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Friday 27 March 2026 17:42

McLaren F1 team have confirmed their findings after an investigation into Lando Norris' car at the Japanese Grand Prix.

On Friday at Suzuka the reigning champion's running in FP2 was delayed, yet another blow after only completing 20 laps in the first practice hour.

Norris eventually got out of the garage with 40 minutes of the session remaining, but described his Friday as a 'pretty bad day' due to his lack of mileage.

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Subsequently, the McLaren team have investigated the issue on the No.1 car and released their findings in a statement.

They wrote: "The team experienced a busy afternoon with a hydraulic leak limiting the number of laps Lando could complete in Free Practice 2.

"The team investigated the hydraulic leak before the second session but could not find the source in any parts that could be changed in time. Having replaced what could be changed and through careful management during running, Lando was eventually able to spend important time on track with McLaren Mastercard completing 89 laps (both cars total)."

F1 RESULTS: Japanese Grand Prix practice times and positions

McLaren back on top in FP2

Despite Norris' issues in FP2, McLaren have put the papaya cats amongst the silver pigeons and topped the second practice session of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend.

Oscar Piastri set the quickest time of 1:30.133 to top the timesheets ahead of Mercedes, while Norris managed to set the fourth fastest time behind Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.

A sniff of optimism will be warmly received after McLaren's disastrous start to the season, where Piastri has been unable to contest a single lap of grand prix racing and both drivers failed to start the last race in Shanghai.

But can McLaren actually spoil the Mercedes/Ferrari party in Japan? George Russell remains wary, who told the media after the opening day of practice that: "McLaren were pretty fast so [that was] a little bit of a surprise to be honest. There's still some improvements we need to do so a bit of work to do tonight."

"I don't see why it wouldn't be genuine to be honest. I think Lando's had a disruptive day but Oscar has been pretty on it from the first lap out of the box this morning.

"We'll find out come qualifying. I think we've got some more to give and things weren't quite optimised, especially on my side with the energy management, so hopefully a little bit more to come tomorrow.

"I think there's some quite big differences in the deployment between teams and what's been optimised over the course of the lap. I think we didn't quite have that right and it should be a relatively easy fix."

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F1 McLaren Lando Norris Japanese Grand Prix