‘We’re in a pickle’ – Norris on McLaren performance concerns

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What is F1 TV?F1 GlossaryGet involved2026 RegulationsNewsVideosWhat the teams said – Sprint day and Qualifying in Great BritainUnlockedWhat are the tyre strategy options for the British Grand Prix?Felbermayr takes Reverse Grid Race victory at Silverstone ‘We’re in a pickle’ – Norris on McLaren performance concernsPlay1:31GHOST CAR: See how Antonelli beat Leclerc to pole position for the British Grand Prix 1:47ONBOARD: Antonelli’s 2026 Pirelli Pole Position Award lap at the British GP Alexander AlbonFernando AlonsoKimi AntonelliOliver BearmanGabriel BortoletoValtteri BottasFranco ColapintoPierre GaslyIsack HadjarLewis HamiltonNico HulkenbergLiam LawsonCharles LeclercArvid LindbladLando NorrisEsteban OconSergio PerezOscar PiastriGeorge RussellCarlos SainzLance StrollMax VerstappenAll Drivers Hall of FameTeamsChevron DropdownAlpineAston MartinAudiCadillacFerrariHaas F1 TeamMcLarenMercedesRacing BullsRed Bull RacingWilliamsAll TeamsFantasy & GamingChevron DropdownF1 Sim RacingFantasyF1 25F1 Manager 24F1 PredictF1 ClashF1 Members' AreaMenuFIA if(window.f1MobileDetection.iOSSafari) { var meta = document.createElement("meta"); meta.name = "apple-itunes-app"; meta.content = "app-id=835022598, app-argument=https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/were-just-slow-norris-admits-mclaren-are-in-a-pickle-with-car-performance-ahead-of-british-gp.4r6Y3n0aObXK6gw7pEkf6Q.4r6Y3n0aObXK6gw7pEkf6Q"; document.head.appendChild(meta); } {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/were-just-slow-norris-admits-mclaren-are-in-a-pickle-with-car-performance-ahead-of-british-gp.4r6Y3n0aObXK6gw7pEkf6Q","url":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/were-just-slow-norris-admits-mclaren-are-in-a-pickle-with-car-performance-ahead-of-british-gp.4r6Y3n0aObXK6gw7pEkf6Q","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/were-just-slow-norris-admits-mclaren-are-in-a-pickle-with-car-performance-ahead-of-british-gp.4r6Y3n0aObXK6gw7pEkf6Q","datePublished":"2026-07-04T19:34:14.914Z","dateModified":"2026-07-04T19:34:14.914Z","headline":"‘We’re just slow’ – Lando Norris admits McLaren are 'in a pickle' with car performance ahead of British Grand Prix","author":"F1","description":"Lando Norris says McLaren's pace in Qualifying at Silverstone was disappointing despite some car improvements, and highlighted areas that need work.","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://media.formula1.com/image/upload/t_16by9Centre/f_auto/q_auto/v1783166921/trackside-images/2026/F1_Grand_Prix_of_Great_Britain___Sprint__Qualifying/2284606365.jpg"},"isAccessibleForFree":"true","publisher":{"@type":"SportsOrganization","@id":"https://www.formula1.com#organization","name":"Formula 1","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.formula1.com/etc/designs/fom-website/social/f1-default-share.jpg","width":"480","height":"120"}}}Lando NorrisOscar PiastriMcLarenShow more tags‘We’re just slow’ – Norris admits McLaren are 'in a pickle' with car performance ahead of British GPLando Norris says McLaren's pace in Qualifying at Silverstone was disappointing despite some car improvements, and highlighted areas that need work. Lando Norris has described his McLaren team as being "in a pickle" when it comes to pace after Qualifying sixth for the British Grand Prix. The reigning World Champion went into Saturday afternoon's session buoyed by an unexpected third-place finish in the Sprint, but could only qualify 0.766s behind polesitter Kimi Antonelli and will start his home event from the third row on Sunday. Despite bringing upgrades to Silverstone this weekend, and making tweaks to the set up between sessions, Norris was surprised by the comparative pace between the MCL40 and the leading cars. "It was pretty poor really in terms of gap to the cars ahead," he explained. "I thought my lap was pretty strong, it was my best lap by half a second, so thankfully I was not 1.3 seconds off. It was a good lap. I think I got everything out of it. "We’re just slow. I thought we improved the car in some areas but we need to understand… like we’re just slow in the straight, we’re slow in every corner. It’s just the car’s not very efficient. We lack downforce and we have too much drag. So yeah, we’re in a pickle. "This is a track where you need to be efficient. There’s so many places here where you rely upon drag, because you don’t have a straight-line mode in certain places, and this is where we lose a lot. And also just in every straight – there’s a lot of straights here – and just high speed. We’re not very good in the high-speed and we lose a lot in both that and slow speed. This shows who has a good car and who doesn’t, and it’s clear that we don’t." Asked what he thinks he can do with the car he has in Sunday's race, the 26-year-old said: "I have no idea. I mean, we’ll try and get a good start again, obviously what made my race this morning [in the Sprint] was a good start. I don’t know how I finished P3 this morning when we’re seven tenths a lap off, you know that’s pretty insane. "I think realistically a P5 should be best. We try and beat the Red Bulls, that’s the main thing we can ask for. I think to beat cars that are seventh tenths quicker, both the Ferraris and a Mercedes, is just a bit stupid." Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri in the other McLaren will start two places behind Norris in eighth. The Australian agreed with his team mate that Qualifying had been a difficult session, despite changes to the car. "Everywhere," he said when asked where the team was lacking pace. "Just incredibly tough. We thought we made some decent improvements to the car, but I don’t know if we just struggled a lot more in these windier conditions or what happened, but it was a real handful. "The car has definitely been more challenging than we expected. Been struggling a lot with the balance of the car. We were pretty optimistic that we’d made a good step forward for Qualifying but unfortunately it didn’t change much. Just struggling for grip overall." F1FacebookXInstagramYouTube© 2003-2026 Formula One World Championship Limited