Lando Norris has said his comments about Max Verstappen and the new Formula 1 rules were “to see the reaction of everyone” and that he in fact shares the four-time world champion’s negative outlook on the 2026 cars.
After Verstappen stated at the first week of Bahrain testing that F1 was like “Formula E on steroids” thanks to the new cars, Norris said that he had a “lot of fun” and that Verstappen should retire if he didn’t feel the same way.
But on the penultimate day of the second test, Norris said: “I just didn’t want to come out into the media and complain to everyone on the first weekend back.
“I just wanted to say that and see what the reaction was of everyone. It’s been quite an amusing week, and it certainly made a lot of people comment and say a lot of things.”
Norris went on to admit that he actually agrees with most of Verstappen points, adding that the cars were “certainly not the purest form of racing.”
“I do agree with basically every other driver, because I think every other driver has made their comments pretty clear,” Norris said. “I just didn’t want to come out into the media and complain to everyone on the first weekend back. I want to still enjoy my time and just say what I feel.
“I had fun last week. I’ve still been having fun out there now. And I think we know as a championship with FIA and with Formula 1, we’re trying to improve the car that we have now, because it’s certainly not the purest form of racing, and that’s what Formula 1 should be.
“A lot of the driving is focused on just trying to get the battery to work properly and less focused on how can you, as a driver, get everything out of the car.”
Norris, meanwhile, admits there is “quite a bit” to improve with his McLaren car.
Norris dethroned Verstappen to win his maiden drivers’ world championship last season after a rollercoaster year where he battled with various internal doubts.
The 26-year-old is full of confidence after he handled the pressure to claim the crown, but he acknowledged there is work for his team to do in order to compete with Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull in next month’s season opener in Melbourne.
“At the minute, we’re a little bit off, so to match the race pace of some of the others, we have to push a bit more and then we have more degradations,” Norris said.
“I would love to [win], but I don’t think there’s like a responsibility. Always in life I’ll do my best to defend it and continue it, but it’s a new season with loads of new challenges.
“It’s not as simple as just continuing from last year and saying it’s the same thing again. You know at the minute we have to improve the car quite a bit if we want to compete a bit more to be confident for the first race, but I feel confident.
“I feel better than I’ve ever done. Certainly after last year in winning the championship, that’s given me the confidence, so it’s reassuring to know that I’ve done it once and therefore I believe I can do it again.
“That’s a good thing, but it’s a long season and I’ll make sure I do my part. Together as a team we’ll make sure we give ourselves the best opportunity to do it again.”
