Lando Norris insisted McLaren need a consistent car to challenge for regular race wins, after the Briton stormed to victory at Sunday's Sao Paulo Grand Prix. 

Norris breezed to his third race of the season around Interlagos, finishing 15 seconds ahead of second-place Max Verstappen, with Isack Hadjar completing the podium places. 

The Briton's victory came just a week after he saw his title defence come to an end, with Kimi Antonelli making Formula One history at the Mexico City Grand Prix as he became the youngest-ever world champion.

However, Norris delivered the perfect response by winning in Brazil for the second year in a row, earning his first race victory since the Dutch Grand Prix back in August.

It's been a frustrating year for McLaren and Norris, highlighted by Mercedes lifting their first constructors' championship since 2021 on Sunday, after George Russell and Antonelli finished fourth and fifth respectively. 

McLaren are fourth in the team standings and 254 points adrift of the Silver Arrows, with Red Bull's resurgence also seeing them leapfrog McLaren into third. 

All three of McLaren's wins have been by Norris, with Oscar Piastri failing to deliver similar results in 2025, and the winning driver in Brazil acknowledged that improvements across the board needed to be made if the team are to have a strong end to the season. 

"I just want to win very badly. I want to be able to have a car we can fight for world championships with, which we've not had throughout this year," Norris said.

"There's been certain moments where I would say we had a car we could fight for wins with, and we did it in a few other races this season, but it's not good enough.

"You need a car that can fight through a whole year and you need a consistent car.

"You need one where you can deliver week after week. That's something we're still working on. We still need more."

The São Paulo double #McLarenF1 | #BrazilGP https://t.co/rG0Zq3Ahpo

— McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team (@McLarenF1) November 8, 2026

Verstappen, meanwhile, produced a stunning drive once again in difficult conditions in Brazil, rising from 21st at the start of the race to finish behind Norris by the end. 

The Dutchman has now finished on the podium in each of the last eight races, the longest active streak in the championship, only enjoying longer runs on three occasions. 

He gained 19 positions, completing the biggest recovery drive of his F1 career, surpassing his previous best of 18 places in Russia in 2021.

Indeed, it is the biggest recovery to finish second or higher since the 1983 United States Grand Prix West, when both Niki Lauda (23rd to second) and John Watson (22nd to first) gained 21 positions.

"It was a challenging race. I think the first few laps were very important, I overtook a lot of cars," Verstappen said. "Actually, that first stint on the inters was really strong.

"Unfortunately, after that, I don't know if we picked up some kind of damage, because the car felt the compete opposite to anything I've felt the whole weekend, with some really weird balance. Unfortunately, once I got into P2, I couldn't really make any inroads.

"We have to understand what went wrong there but starting P21 and being on the podium in second is a very good result."