Lando Norris does not see this season as a failure with McLaren, despite seeing his reign as Formula One world champion come to an end at the Mexico City Grand Prix. 

Kimi Antonelli was crowned the youngest world champion in F1 history last weekend, eclipsing Sebastian Vettel's previous record, which had stood since 2010. 

Antonelli was joined on the podium by seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton and four-time world champion Max Verstappen, while Norris was forced to settle for fifth place. 

It has been a difficult title defence for Norris, who finds himself 159 points behind Antonelli in the Drivers' Championship heading into this weekend's Sao Paulo Grand Prix. 

Norris managed back-to-back wins in Hungary and the Netherlands in the middle of the season, but he has been unable to build on that momentum, with his highest finish since then coming at the Spanish Grand Prix, when he took the chequered flag in third. 

Overall, the Briton has managed just five podium finishes, while McLaren are 265 points adrift of Mercedes in the Constructors' Championship. 

"I certainly wouldn't put this year at all in the direction of saying it's a failure," Norris said of McLaren's season so far. 

"I think that's completely the wrong mindset to have, especially when we had to work so much last year to win a world championship. 

"We knew we were going to pay the price, especially when you've got a bigger regulation change than ever in Formula 1.

"When you want to be able to drop everything and spend more time on something, it was a time we couldn't do that, because we had the Constructors' and Drivers' Championship to win, so I'm more than happy that that was the sacrifice we took this year."

LN arriving for Media Day in Brazil #McLarenF1 | #BrazilGP https://t.co/RlGB4HENqZ

— McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team (@McLarenF1) November 5, 2026

Norris does, however, arrive at a track he won at on his way to the title last season, beating out Antonelli and Verstappen while team-mate Oscar Piastri could only finish fifth. 

The 26-year-old has made his feelings clear about the performance of his McLaren, putting it down to the team being out-developed by Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari.

With the aim of getting back to the front, McLaren have a new front wing, rear wing and floor components for Brazil to try and fix a car Norris described as "horrible". 

"They [the upgrades] are just to add performance," Norris said. "I don't think it will make it any easier [to drive]. Maybe there's a chance it makes it harder.

"For this, you always leave it to the experts. I give my feedback; I say what I want, what's difficult.

"The engineers and aerodynamicists are the clever ones who turn my comments into lap time. They are doing a good job and continuing to work hard."

Norris added: "The car has been horrible, difficult to drive the whole season. Just other teams have brought a lot more upgrades since and improved a lot more than what we have – nothing more than that. The team are still doing a good job, considering we were 1.5 to one second off at the beginning of the year.

"The fact we won almost three races was a pretty sizeable achievement in itself, so we have had a pretty good year, if you want to look at it from that perspective.

"Of course, we hold ourselves to a very high level and want to win everything we can.

"We started a long way behind at the beginning of the season and did a good job catching up, better than the majority of any other team on the grid.

"Normally, it's me looking at it negatively, but now I'm looking at it in a positive way. We want more, especially when we have a taste of success in the middle of the year."

Max Verstappen – Red Bull

After claiming his third win of the season in Mexico City last time out, Verstappen arrives in Brazil full of confidence as he looks to continue Red Bull's recent resurgence. 

LN arriving for Media Day in Brazil #McLarenF1 | #BrazilGP https://t.co/RlGB4HENqZ

— McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team (@McLarenF1) November 5, 2026

Verstappen has finished on the podium in each of the last seven races, the longest active streak in the championship. The Dutchman has recorded a longer run on four occasions and could equal his eight-race podium streak between Russia and Abu Dhabi in 2021 at the Brazilian Grand Prix. 

And he returns to a track he has had success at during his career. Verstappen has led 228 laps at Interlagos. Should he lead at least nine more in this year's race, he will become the driver with the most laps led at the Brazilian circuit in F1 history, surpassing both Vettel (233) and Michael Schumacher (236).

Three of the four highest-scoring drivers at Interlagos are on the current F1 grid, with only Hamilton (188 points) amassing more points than Verstappen's 187. Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso (142) is fourth on the list. 

During his win last time out, Verstappen also surpassed 4,000 laps led in his F1 career (4,023 in total), a milestone previously achieved only by Hamilton (5,530) and Schumacher (5,111). In fact, only Hamilton has led more laps for a single team in the history of the championship (4,252 with Mercedes). 

Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes

With the F1 title already clinched, many may believe Antonelli may take his foot off the gas for the final four races of the season, but the Italian still has a lot to achieve in 2026. 

Antonelli has scored 380 points this season, and could become the fifth driver to score 400 or more points in a single season in the history of the sport. 

Only Verstappen (four times), Hamilton (twice), Norris and Piastri (one each) have done so, and Antonelli will be keen to add his name to that list. 

Antonelli has also recorded 16 podium finishes in 2026. Should he secure a 17th, the Italian driver will become the sixth driver to record 17 or more podium finishes in a single F1 season, and the first Italian to achieve the feat. 

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Drivers'

1. (C) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 380

2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 261

3. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – 259

4. George Russell (Mercedes) – 250

5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 245

Constructors'

1. Mercedes – 630

2. Ferrari – 504

3. Red Bull – 382

4. McLaren – 365

5. Racing Bulls – 108