Lando Norris recently stated his confidence that McLaren can rebound to have the best car on the grid in F1 2026.<\/p>\n
McLaren<\/a> Racing CEO Zak Brown \u201cabsolutely\u201d agrees with the reigning world champion on that target. Brown stated that he is \u201cvery confident\u201d as McLaren looks to re-enter the F1 winners\u2019 circle, having impressed last time out at Suzuka.<\/p>\n Lando Norris and Zak Brown confident McLaren can lead F1 2026<\/p>\n Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for news you can trust.<\/p>\n After back-to-back constructors\u2019 title wins, and a maiden drivers\u2019 championship for Norris in 2025, McLaren went into F1 2026 striving to nail the new regulations and keep its spot on top.<\/p>\n But Mercedes is the team to have emerged as top dog, taking every pole and win on offer so far.<\/p>\n McLaren made Mercedes work for it at Suzuka, though.<\/p>\n A storming start from Oscar Piastri saw him to go from P3 to the race lead. He was successfully keeping a recovering George Russell at bay later in the race.<\/p>\n Whether Piastri could have held on for the win will remain an unknown, as a safety car emerged at the perfect timing for Russell\u2019s Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli. It gave the Italian a cheap pit stop, allowing him to come in and back out still in the lead.<\/p>\n Antonelli pulled away from Piastri upon the restart and drove on to a second victory of the season.<\/p>\n Heading into the Japanese GP race weekend, Norris had put McLaren\u2019s rivals on notice by declaring belief that the MCL40 can become the best car on the grid.<\/p>\n On the talk of a title challenge recovery, Norris had said: \u201cWhat we are thinking of is getting on the podium first of all, and then just returning to winning races.<\/p>\n \u201cThe points then take care of themselves and we\u2019ll see what we can claw back.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we\u2019re confident in that. I want to say I think we\u2019re confident as a team and we believe in ourselves that we\u2019ve won the last two championships and we won the drivers\u2019 last year because we could build the best car on the grid, and I\u2019m confident we can get back to doing that this year.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just takes time. You have to be patient. But yes, I have a good belief in the team and I think we can have the best car this year.\u201d<\/p>\n Channel 4 presented Brown with Norris\u2019s comments and asked whether he agrees that McLaren can have the best car on the grid at some point in F1 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cAbsolutely,\u201d Brown confirmed.<\/p>\n More on McLaren from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n McLaren \u2018expect changes\u2019 to F1 2026 rules with talks imminent<\/a><\/p>\n Oscar Piastri: \u2018Nothing magical\u2019 creating Mercedes\u2019 F1 2026 advantage<\/a><\/p>\n He added: \u201cFirst of all, the competition is amazing, but if you see what we\u2019ve done the last couple of years, all the men and women back at McLaren have done a fantastic job upgrading our car.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve gone from ninth to second, to fourth to first, and here we are, kind of third-quickest today, second-quickest there or thereabout.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I\u2019m very confident with all the work we\u2019re doing back at the factory.\u201d<\/p>\n McLaren sits third in the early F1 2026 Constructors\u2019 standings<\/a>, 44 points behind Ferrari, and 89 back from Mercedes.<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n