McLaren says Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri in ‘difficult time’ after Chinese GP disaster but back in F1 2026 | F1 News

McLaren boss Andrea Stella says Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are in a “difficult time” after the team’s difficult start to the season, but hopes the drivers have the mindset to bounce back from early 2026 problems.

The two-time reigning constructors’ title defense got off to a disappointing start, with reigning world champion Norris finishing fifth in the season opener in Australia, his only top-four finish to date.

Oscar Piastri crashed before the race at his home Australian Grand Prix and both McLaren drivers failed to start last weekend in China due to various problems with their cars’ electrical and electronic units.

It leaves McLaren in a distant third place behind pacesetters Mercedes and Ferrari at the top. In the driver’s standings, Norris is in sixth place with 15 points and Piastri is in twelfth place with only three points collected in the Shanghai Sprint.

“It’s a difficult moment, that’s for sure,” said Stella, McLaren’s principal, when asked how he was managing the drivers.

“Considering that Oscar could not start the race at the beginning of the 2026 campaign, that is very difficult for Oscar to process.

“But, at the same time, and this was proven and proven in the interview with Lando and Oscar after the race, both of them remained positive.

“I think what we’ve gone through at McLaren in terms of the journey from 2023 has been a great journey to develop a culture, a mentality, what we call inside the mind of a winner. Just a good attitude, focusing on what we can control.

“In this case [in China]there’s not much we can control, so we take whatever learning we can and go again.”

Stella said that it is the lessons they learned from difficulties in previous seasons that will make them successful.

“Even looking at last year, when we won the double championship, we said, and I said it publicly, but we really said internally, the victory was not in Abu Dhabi,” he added.

“The victory was in Qatar [when a strategy error cost both drivers] and in Vegas [when both cars were disqualified]in the way we deal with adversity. This is where you really become a champion.

“So this is part of the same part of the journey, which is a day when you have to face adversity, you have to process it and you have to use it to become an important champion in the future and acquire the qualities of being a champion.

“That’s our concept and I saw it completely when we played with Oscar, with Lando and the team.”

‘Be careful in Miami’ – how quickly will McLaren close the gap on Mercedes, Ferrari?

Stella admitted that the biggest consequence of their double DNS in Shanghai was the loss of world championship points.

The defending champions are 80 points adrift of leaders Mercedes after finishing second in a row of one-two arrows.

McLaren, like Red Bull, trailed Mercedes and Ferrari at pace during the opening two rounds of the season. The Woking team said that while there was an opportunity to get more out of their Mercedes engine, they also needed to improve their MCL40 car.

Talking about the latest edition of The F1 Show podcast, Sky Sports F1 analyst David Croft said the Miami Grand Prix on May 1-3 could be important for McLaren’s development.

“Having two different problems stopping their cars is very worrying, but it shows how fragile these cars are,” said Croft.

“A lot of people are struggling; four cars didn’t come off the line in Shanghai and that’s not what we want to see. Reliability has been outstanding in the last few years, over time it hasn’t been, but we don’t want to see cars not starting.

“McLaren knows that there is a big update coming, which could be in Miami, which should solve a lot of problems when they are not competing with Mercedes.

“They know it’s not just power issues; they know they can do better with aerodynamics, so be careful in Miami.

“That’s why it’s important that Ferrari and Mercedes make hay while McLaren and Red Bull struggle a bit.”

Formula 1 next heads to the iconic Suzuka Circuit for the Japanese Grand Prix on March 27-29 live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports NOW – no contract, cancel anytime