McLaren "not in the fight for Italian GP pole", admits downbeat Lando Norris

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McLaren "not in the fight for Italian GP pole", admits downbeat Lando Norris

Filip Cleeren

Fri, September 4, 2026 at 5:35 PM UTC ·

6 min read

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After completing two practice sessions on Monza's Temple of Speed, reigning world champion Lando Norris has found few reasons to believe he can deliver a hat-trick of Formula 1 wins at this weekend's Italian Grand Prix.

Norris claimed fourth in Monza's second practice outing, 0.384s behind Mercedes' George Russell , as he sounded surprised by McLaren's relative lack of pace compared to the works team.

"Not very decent, just struggling a lot more with pace," Norris said. "To be honest, in the corners we expected to be good at, we're bad. And the corners we expected to be bad at, we're not so bad at, but we're still off. So, we're not in a great place at the minute. We'll see what we can do overnight."

GPS traces show Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri , who took sixth, are mainly losing time on the straights compared to Russell, which could be a combination of the MCL40's relative lack of aerodynamic efficiency and a different battery deployment profile.

What Norris also appears to be hinting at is that he is losing almost a tenth of a second in the fast Variante Ascari chicane, which would naturally be a strong corner for the McLaren . Conversely, Norris was able to keep pace with Russell through the slow-speed first and second chicanes, which is not generally a strength of his 2026 car.

McLaren will also have to be wary of Ferrari , which took second in FP2 courtesy of Charles Leclerc as it fields an improved power unit and track-specific aerodynamic updates.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

"It's going to be tougher than before, for sure," Norris acknowledged, as he aims to continue his streak of wins following back-to-back victories in Hungary and the Netherlands. "It's close between a lot of the guys at the top. The guys behind are not that far behind either, so they can easily surprise us.

"I definitely don't feel we're in the fight for pole at all. But we just need to focus on getting a decent result."

McLaren gives H-Wing the nod of approval

McLaren was the latest team to introduce a rotating rear wing, a concept introduced by Ferrari, with technical director Neil Houldey confirmed its so-called 'H-Wing' design worked as expected.

"We're reasonably pleased with the car's balance between high-and low-speed sections, though we are around three-tenths off where we want to be," Houldey said. "The new H-Wing performed well, as we expected following the testing put in at the factory, and we now anticipate it to add performance as we head into the rest of the weekend.

"Our focus this evening will be on fine-tuning the energy management, as there is still an opportunity to find lap time through better harvesting and deployment. It's about finding those last few fractions of a second to close the gap with the teams ahead."

Photos from Italian GP - Saturday

Pierre Gasly, Alpine

Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Alex Bierens de Haan / Getty Images

Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team

Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

Franco Colapinto, Alpine

Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls

Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

Alexander Albon, Williams

Alex Bierens de Haan / Getty Images

George Russell, Mercedes

Alex Bierens de Haan / Getty Images

Sergio Perez, Cadillac Racing

Alex Bierens de Haan / Getty Images

Alexandra Leclerc

Alex Bierens de Haan / Getty Images

Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi F1 Team

Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

Lando Norris, McLaren

Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images

Ferrari Badge

Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi F1 Team

Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

Lando Norris, McLaren

Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images

Pierre Gasly, Alpine

Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

George Russell, Mercedes

Alex Bierens de Haan / Getty Images

Alexander Albon, Williams, Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac Racing

Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

Sergio Perez, Cadillac Racing

Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team

Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing

Alex Bierens de Haan / Getty Images

Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team

Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team, Carlos Sainz, Williams, Sergio Perez, Cadillac Racing

Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing

Alex Bierens de Haan / Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

Lando Norris, McLaren

Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images