F1 champion Lando Norris's horrendous Japanese Grand Prix weekend for McLaren just got worse

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

Japanese Grand Prix Practice

Lando Norris's horrendous Japanese Grand Prix weekend for McLaren just got worse

Lando Norris has struggled to get out on track in Japan this weekend

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 28 March 2026 04:59

The 2025 F1 world champion Lando Norris suffered another frustrating practice session at the Japanese Grand Prix, after an issue with his McLaren car caused him to miss most of FP3.

Norris could only do limited running on Friday after a range of issues hit him in FP1 and FP2 and, while his team-mate Oscar Piastri was topping the timesheets, Norris spent a lot of the day in the garage.

And ahead of FP3, Sky Sports F1 confirmed that a problem with the energy recovery system (ERS) meant that he was 'very unlikely' to take to the Suzuka International Circuit during the third and final practice session.

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McLaren were in a race against time to complete a procedure which Ted Kravitz revealed normally took around two hours.

The team were putting in a new ERS, which will be the third ERS that Norris has used already this season, the maximum amount that you're allowed to use for the entire season without receiving a grid penalty.

However, with just over 20 minutes left to run, the McLaren mechanics did an excellent job in getting the car fixed, allowing the British star to take to the track.

Norris eventually managed to bag a priceless 13 laps, setting a 1:30.600 to put him sixth fastest. Although that put him 1.238 seconds behind fastest man Kimi Antonelli for Mercedes, he was just two tenths off team-mate Oscar Piastri who was fourth fastest.

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Norris' title defence off to disastrous start

McLaren's pace this weekend has been much stronger so far than it was in Australia or China, but their reliability issues continue at the Suzuka International Circuit.

Neither Norris nor Piastri were able to even start the race at the Chinese Grand Prix last time out, with different power unit-related issues hitting the team.

It means that 2025 champion Norris is already 31 points off the top of the early drivers' championship standings, and is facing a huge uphill battle if he is to cut that deficit in Japan.

Mercedes are clearly the dominant outfit in the sport in the early stages of 2026, and the other teams are scrabbling to try and compete with the Brackley-based outfit.

Whether or not Norris makes it out in FP3, he should be able to take to the track for qualifying later on Saturday, although he will be doing so after limited laps throughout the weekend.

F1 McLaren Lando Norris Japanese Grand Prix