- Lando Norris concedes McLaren is “not even close” to Ferrari in cornering performance.
- Ferrari’s engine trails Mercedes and Red Bull by around 30 horsepower, but two upgrades are coming.
- A new FIA regulation could hand Ferrari the tools to fix its only weakness before the season ends.
Reigning Formula 1 world champion Lando Norris said after Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix that Ferrari would “embarrass everyone” if the team improved its engine.
The reigning world champion made the comment after finishing third in Barcelona, 23.7 seconds behind race winner Lewis Hamilton. Norris said Ferrari already has the best chassis on the grid, and only its power unit deficit is holding it back.
Hamilton’s Barcelona win exposed the pecking order
Hamilton won the Spanish Grand Prix for Ferrari on Sunday, beating George Russell and Norris at the Circuit de Catalunya. His winning margin over Russell was 19.561 seconds. At 41 years old, Hamilton became the oldest Grand Prix winner since Jack Brabham in 1970.
The victory was Ferrari’s first since the Mexico City Grand Prix in 2024. It also ended Mercedes’ run of wins at the front of the field every Sunday this season.
Ferrari brought an eight-part upgrade package to Spain, targeting the front wing, floor and sidepods, and the changes delivered results immediately.
Ferrari ran a three-stop strategy. Hamilton gained a free stop under a Virtual Safety Car and then pulled away from the field in the closing laps.
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli did not finish the race, which is what allowed the McLaren driver to climb up to third place. He now trails Antonelli by 83 points after seven rounds.
Despite the victory, Ferrari’s straight-line speed was still visibly slower than its rivals all weekend. That gap is what set up Norris’s blunt remarks after the race.
“If they had a better engine, they’re dominating”
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Norris did not mince his words. “We’re lucky that Ferrari doesn’t have a better engine at the minute,” he said.
“If they had a better engine, they’re dominating. They’re the class of the field in terms of cornering performance at the minute. We’re not even close to them.”
Norris also pointed to what a Ferrari engine upgrade could mean for the rest of the season. “If they make improvements on the engine side, then they’ll embarrass everyone,” he added.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella reinforced the assessment. “I think these indications are that Ferrari, at the moment, is the car with the best chassis,” Stella told the media.
“We see, especially in the medium-speed corner, that Ferrari is the fastest in the corners, not necessarily the fastest in the straights.”
When both the driver and team principal of a reigning champion team say they are “not even close” in cornering performance, the gap is clearly substantial.
The engine upgrade rule that could change everything
Ferrari’s situation with its internal combustion engine has another layer. Just before the Barcelona race, the FIA published the first results of its ADUO assessment, which stands for Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities.
The ruling identified Red Bull’s power unit as the benchmark engine of 2026. Mercedes was judged to be more than 2% behind and was awarded one upgrade homologation. Ferrari, Audi and Honda were found to be more than 4% adrift, earning them two upgrade slots each.
The ruling drew immediate protests from Red Bull, whose engine was rated top despite Mercedes-powered cars winning every race of the season to that point. The FIA agreed to review its calculations. But the direction is fixed: Ferrari will receive two chances to upgrade its power unit in 2026.
Reports from the paddock say Ferrari’s engine currently trails Mercedes and Red Bull by around 30 horsepower, a significant deficit under the new 2026 regulations, where power unit efficiency carries greater weight than before.
Ferrari is expected to use its first upgrade slot at the Austrian Grand Prix, with the second likely after the summer break. ADUO also grants Ferrari additional budget outside the cost cap to fund these upgrades.
Fifteen races remain this season. If Ferrari’s engine upgrades deliver even a fraction of what its Barcelona chassis package did, the warning Lando Norris gave will look less like a prediction and more like a statement of fact.
