That sweet momentum from the middle of the season feels like a lifetime ago for McLaren. After mid-season updates propelled Lando Norris to three out of four pole positions and two race victories across Budapest, Zandvoort, Monza, and Madrid, the Woking-based team hit a brutal reality check during recent rounds at Baku and Sepang. Neither Norris nor teammate Oscar Piastri managed to sniff a podium finish across those two punishing weekends, with the Briton specifically handcuffed by nagging straight-line speed issues that cost him two or three positions in the last two Qualifyings alone.
Speaking on Thursday at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, Norris offered a refreshingly honest assessment of the slump. He admitted that both he and the team had underperformed and needed to do a better job moving forward. Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari all appeared to boast superior raw pace during the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, leaving the orange squad scrambling for answers. Norris pointed out that the struggles were not entirely track-specific to Malaysia, noting that their pace at Baku left much to be desired as well, though the roughness of the tarmac in Malaysia certainly played a part.
Thankfully, the team has worked relentlessly to diagnose the gremlins. The specifics of the technical hurdles remain under wraps, but Norris acknowledged that obvious issues like the straight-line speed deficits and unlocking deeper car potential have kept them busy. It is an infuriating feeling for a driver to exit corners with better momentum only to watch rivals pull away down the straights. Norris noted that it has been a frustrating couple of weekends trying to figure out why that constant lack of performance persisted.
Now, attention turns to Marina Bay, a venue where Norris claimed pole and the race win in 2024, alongside podium finishes in 2023 and 2025. It is a layout where straight-line speed is not the absolute highest priority or as detrimental as it was at the last few venues, which should offer some psychological and mechanical relief. Even so, you always want the machine to run as quickly down the straights as it should.
While confident that the crew has put in massive hours to figure things out, the driver remains cautiously pragmatic. He is hopeful things will be better this weekend, but rightfully insists he has to get out on track and see first.
As the championship fight intensifies, McLaren arrives in Singapore sitting third in the Teams’ Championship standings on 316 points. They trail Ferrari with 405 points and leaders Mercedes holding 556, while feeling the breath of fourth-placed Red Bull just 18 points behind them. Whether the Marina Bay tarmac can cure what ails their charger remains to be seen, but the fightback starts now.
