McLaren find a lift at Suzuka as Norris shows promise through practice trouble

March 27, 2026 Aksel Kryhlmand

According to a GRV Media report by Kyle Archer, McLaren came away from Friday at the Japanese Grand Prix with mixed but encouraging signals, as Oscar Piastri topped the FP2 timesheets while Lando Norris produced an eye catching run on medium tyres before a hydraulics problem limited his session. The contrast between the two McLaren drivers created one of the more interesting storylines of the day, especially with the team still trying to recover from a difficult opening phase of the 2026 Formula 1 season.

Piastri was fastest in second practice with a lap of 1:30.133, finishing just ahead of Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, while George Russell placed third. Norris ended the session fourth after setting his best time on soft tyres, although the final classification did not fully reflect how disrupted his hour had been. A hydraulics issue early in FP2 forced the Briton back into the garage for much of the opening half of the session, leaving him with only 17 laps by the end of the hour, compared with the 29 completed by Piastri. Even so, Norris still finished only 0.516 seconds behind his teammate, which offered McLaren something more encouraging than the raw result alone might suggest.

That underlying pace was the point picked out by Karun Chandhok during Sky Sports F1’s coverage. According to Sky Sports F1, Chandhok believed Norris’s early lap on the medium compound was a particularly positive sign because it hinted that McLaren may finally be beginning to understand how to extract more from the MCL40. While Piastri ultimately went fastest once the field switched to soft tyres, Chandhok suggested Norris’s performance on the harder rubber may have said just as much about the car’s potential across the weekend.

Encouragement for McLaren

Speaking on Sky Sports F1, Chandhok said: “Lando has gone sixth on a set of mediums. So, that’s encouraging. McLaren, they will take good encouragement from that.

“The fact that Piastri [is] quickest after they’ve all had a go on the softs. Of course, we don’t know [whether] Mercedes are sandbagging or whatever. But, on the whole, that is more convincing than McLaren have looked than at any point in the season.”

His comments mattered because McLaren’s start to 2026 has been defined more by frustration than progress. According to Archer’s report for GRV Media, Mercedes have made the stronger start to the campaign, with Russell winning in Australia and also taking victory in the Shanghai sprint, while Antonelli won the Chinese Grand Prix. McLaren, by contrast, have struggled to convert pace into clean results, and reliability issues have prevented the team from building momentum. Norris’s fifth place in Australia remains McLaren’s only Grand Prix finish so far this season, which underlines why even a limited but competitive run in Friday practice felt significant.

The earlier session also added to that picture. In FP1, Russell led the field, but Norris was McLaren’s quicker driver in third, with Piastri fourth. Taken together, the two practice sessions suggested McLaren may be more competitive at Suzuka than it has looked at previous rounds, even if the sample is still small and the true performance order remains uncertain ahead of qualifying.

Why Suzuka could suit McLaren better

According to GRV Media, part of McLaren’s struggle this season has come from a combination of technical limitations that have made life harder at certain circuits. The report said the team’s gearbox has been less efficient at recovering energy than Mercedes’ package, while the MCL40’s lower downforce characteristics have also made grip harder to find, particularly in China. Both Norris and Piastri were also affected by battery related problems at the Chinese Grand Prix, where McLaren recorded a double non start, a major setback that deepened concern over the team’s early season form.

Suzuka, however, may offer a slightly different test. The early signs from Friday suggested the circuit could play more to the car’s strengths, or at least expose fewer of its weaknesses than previous venues. That does not yet mean McLaren are ready to dislodge Mercedes as the benchmark, but it does offer a more credible basis for optimism than the team has had at any previous point this season. Piastri’s fastest lap delivered the headline, yet Norris’s interrupted but still promising session may have provided the more revealing sign about where McLaren currently stand.

Sources: GRV Media, Kyle Archer, Sky Sports F1