Norris 'happy I have the pain of this year for the glory of last'

Norris 'happy I have the pain of this year for the glory of last'Image source, PA MediaImage caption, Lando Norris won the sprint race in Miami in May but has not had a grand prix victory so far this seasonByAndrew BensonF1 CorrespondentPublished11 minutes ago1 CommentsLando Norris is conflicted - up to a point, anyway.He admits that the start to his and McLaren's title defence this season has been "dreadful" in terms of reliability, while the pace "has not been terrible".But he accepts that, in hindsight, the difficulty they are going through this year has its roots in their success."I'm happy I have the pain of this year for the glory of last," he says, as he sits down with BBC Sport for an extensive interview on the eve of the British Grand Prix.It was very much not McLaren's expectation that they would start 2026 unable, so far, to repeat the success they enjoyed in 2024 and 2025.But they have realised that the energy put into achieving their title double last season under an intense late-season assault from Max Verstappen and Red Bull has had consequences.Norris says: "We still put a lot of effort into making sure we were ready for this year. And we're not as ready and as strong as we would have liked to have been."But certainly a good amount of trying to win the championship as a constructor and as a driver last year required a continued amount of dedication on the car of last season. When just more effort in other teams, teams that are doing well now, they just would have shifted more people, more focus would have gone to this year."So, it's just the price you pay in a very competitive world against extremely good teams and clever people."And as soon as you're just a little bit more focused on last season, especially in such a big transition of regulation, you pay the price pretty quickly."'It's been more difficult than we wanted'In performance terms,...