‘Want to believe that we can still make improvements’ – Lando Norris wary of new McLaren upgrades ahead of 2026 Formula 1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix

McLaren will introduce new upgrades for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix this weekend, with Lando Norris stating he wants “to believe that we can still make improvements” to this year’s car.

Norris has endured a difficult campaign as the reigning World Champion, an accolade he lost last weekend as Kimi Antonelli became Formula 1’s youngest title winner.

After a difficult start to the season, Norris and McLaren claimed back-to-back wins during the summer, but have since struggled to fight for victory, primarily down to a car which is difficult to push to the limit for both the Briton and team mate Oscar Piastri.

Speaking on Thursday’s media day in Brazil, Norris was hopeful new upgrades would help make the car more drivable, but warned it could also make the problem worse.

“I did my preparation earlier and clicked on the screen where we see the results of every session, and it’s easy because my name was at the top of all of them,” said Norris, who won in Sao Paulo 12 months ago.

“So it was a nice reminder. Obviously, at this point last year, I just took control of the championship, and then I had a very successful weekend. So it was a very good one and obviously a big confidence booster at the time.

“But I always enjoy it here, and I think after Mexico, we want to be hopeful. We want to believe that we can still make improvements. We’ve got some small things to add to the car this weekend, so we hope that can move us in a better direction.

“I don’t know if it’s going to make it easier to drive. It could even make it harder to drive, but hopefully the performance takes a step forward. So maybe then you can adjust some things to potentially make it more consistent.

“But the team are working very, very hard on trying to improve this year’s car to make it not just quicker, but also a car that is more compliant with what a driver needs when trying to extract the limit.

“There’s always been very good potential, but getting it out of the car is not always very easy. So hopefully we can make some small changes this weekend.”