Lando Norris has revealed a major disadvantage of the 2026 Formula 1 cars that can ruin a driver’s weekend in the wrong circumstances.
The new breed of cars for 2026 continues to divide fans and the paddock, with flaws identified with battery deployment requiring emergency talks this week.
Reliability is also a concern, as teams and drivers wrestle with the complex components of the power units, causing issues across the weekend.
Norris has been affected badly by poor reliability, suffering a gearbox issue in FP1 and a battery failure that led to a dreaded DNS in China.
His poor luck continued in Japan, with more issues keeping the reigning champion in the garage during practice.
But, as he reveals, this has a knock-on effect for the rest of the weekend, the 2026 cars particularly sensitive to setup changes.
“Yeah, 100%, a lot more”, he said to media, including Motorsport Week in Japan when asked if practice issues negatively impacts weekends more than in previous years.
“It’s obviously still a new car, and it’s a new track where the tarmac is a lot grippier here.
“It’s new tarmac as well. It’s a much quicker track, so you have to drive the car quite differently to how we’ve driven the last few [years].”
A heavy cost for Lando Norris
Norris highlighted the struggles of his rivals in Suzuka as proof of the sensitivity of the cars, adding their complexity has to be harnessed correctly.
“You’ve seen how many mistakes people have been making, into Spoon and things with the rear, it’s just not easy,” he said.
“So certainly now it costs more than before, not just as a driver, but also to understand how the power unit works, to get the battery in the right way.
“Then you have to lift more in places, what you have to then adjust with the set-up, because you have to lift more.
Norris’ revelations over the 2026 cars highlight the ultra sensitive nature of these cars that are challenging the drivers in multiple aspects.
What is clear, is that drivers cannot afford to have many reliability issues during the season. If they do, a negative performance spiral seems almost inevitable.