Lando Norris produced what he considers one of the finest qualifying laps of his career at Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday. He starts the Belgian Grand Prix from P13. If that feels like a cruel joke, well, welcome to McLaren‘s 2026 season.
A Lap Worth Celebrating, A Grid Slot Worth Forgetting
Norris clocked a 1m 44.801s to go third quickest in qualifying, split only by Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen. He then promptly aborted his second run after going wide over the gravel at the Fagnes Chicane, the same spot that caught out Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly earlier in the weekend. It did not matter. His first lap was already good enough.
“My lap was a pretty mega lap. It was probably one of the best laps I’ve ever done in qualifying so I’m pretty happy with today. It’s just a shame I start P13 tomorrow.” – Lando Norris
McLaren had already confirmed before a single wheel turned in qualifying that Norris would take a 10-place grid penalty, having fitted a fourth power electronics unit to address the reliability failures that plagued him in China, Japan and Monaco. They chose Spa for the swap precisely because it offers overtaking opportunities. Small comfort when you’ve just gone third fastest.
Realistic Expectations, Not Heroic Promises
To his credit, Norris is not pretending Sunday will be a triumphant charge to the podium. He was blunt about where McLaren actually stand on pure pace, noting that a tenth or so separates him from the cars ahead, which suggests he is not genuinely quicker. A top-six finish is the optimistic target; top eight is probably the honest one.
“I don’t expect to have an incredible chance to get high up the order tomorrow, but if we can get in the top six maybe, that would be amazing.” – Lando Norris
He also noted that Spa feels like something of a home race, given his family connections to Belgium and the sea of orange in the grandstands. Whether that translates into on-track magic from P13 is another matter entirely. As we noted after the penalty was confirmed, the overtaking case for Spa is strong in theory and considerably messier in practice.
Piastri Struggles While Norris Shines
Oscar Piastri, who won here in 2025, found the weekend considerably less enjoyable, qualifying seventh and admitting he was fighting the car’s balance throughout. More than two tenths behind his team-mate, he described it as a “big grind.” McLaren’s pace appears real but patchy across the two cars, which is its own kind of problem heading into the race.
The Bigger Picture Is Uncomfortable
Norris sits fifth in the championship, 82 points behind championship leader Antonelli. Delivering career-best laps from grid penalties is not a title-winning formula. At some point, brilliant Saturday performances need to convert into Sunday results. Today was emphatically not that day.
