Full Breakdown
McLaren Faces Pace Shortfall in Monza Practice Sessions
9/5/2026, 12:06:20 AM
McLaren's Pace Issues at Monza Practice
During the two practice sessions at Monza, McLaren’s Lando Norris qualified fourth in the second outing, finishing 0.384 seconds behind Mercedes driver George Russell. Team-mate Oscar Piastri was sixth. GPS data indicated the MCL40 lost time on the long straights, suggesting a shortfall in aerodynamic efficiency and a different battery-deployment profile. Norris also noted a loss of nearly a tenth of a second through the fast Variante Ascari chicane, a corner where McLaren traditionally performs well.
Recent Form and Technical Updates
Norris entered Monza on the back of consecutive victories in Hungary and the Netherlands, raising expectations for a possible hat-trick of wins. The team introduced a rotating rear wing—dubbed the “H-Wing”—a concept first seen on Ferrari, and ran a suite of new parts on Friday. Technical director Neil Houldey said the H-Wing performed as expected in factory testing and should add performance for the remainder of the weekend.
Official Statements & Responses
He added that McLaren is not in the fight for pole and will focus on securing a decent result. Houldey echoed the sentiment, noting the car’s balance is acceptable but still about three-tenths of a second off target, and that fine-tuning energy management could recover the missing fractions of a lap.
Verbatim Quotes
- “Not very decent, just struggling a lot more with pace,” — Lando Norris, reigning world champion
- “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.” — Neil Houldey, technical director
What to Expect in Qualifying
The team plans to refine energy harvesting and deployment overnight, aiming to close the three-tenths gap identified by Houldey. Both Norris and Houldey cautioned that fighting for pole will be “tricky” at Monza, suggesting the best realistic outcome may be a solid points finish rather than a front-row start.
