Lando Norris is sure that real changes in the balance of power between the teams will not be experienced sooner than in 2026, when the new technical rules will be introduced. Meanwhile, McLaren boss Andreas Stella has said that his team will need another 12 months to find solutions to the racing car’s current shortcomings.
The “Red Bull” team continues to show a dominant performance that started back in 2022, although it failed to win in the previous stage in Australia. “McLaren” is currently trying to fight for the status of the second strongest team, although “Ferrari” has also improved its performance. Sometimes “Mercedes” and “Aston Martin” enter this battle. Norris believes that no major changes are expected in this regard either this year or next.
“We will have to wait until 2026 to see a bigger shift in the balance of power,” Norris says. “I think it could potentially be a big change for every team, including the power units. Currently, there are no big differences between engines, they are between machines. I expect that until then Red Bull will always have the upper hand, because they are ahead of the rest right now.”
Norris remains a little hopeful: “They are so smart in all areas! Even if they continue to perform at the same level as other teams, they will still be ahead. Let’s hope they run out of ideas. All teams are closing in on them right now. If we look at the last 12 months, we are the fastest growing team. But that’s not enough to challenge Red Bull.”
Team boss Stella emphasizes that the “McLaren” racing machine, despite the ambitious progress, still has shortcomings, which will take a long time to eliminate.
“We’re extremely pleased with the progress we’ve made over the last 12 months,” he says. “But I would say it will take another 12 months of development work to make the car strong in DRS use and strong in the long corners. This year, around the sixth, seventh stage, we expect significant improvements, and then a couple more times during the season. But it will take the whole season before we can get better performances and correct the weaknesses.”
