McLaren says impossible overtaking at Madring cost Norris the Spanish Grand Prix

Lando Norris had the pace to win the Spanish Grand Prix at Madrid’s new Madring street circuit but was undone by a track that made overtaking virtually impossible, according to McLaren team principal Andrea Stella.

Norris started from pole and built a six-second lead inside the first 12 laps, but that advantage became a liability when a virtual safety car was called. Too far ahead to pit at the optimal moment, he emerged from a seven-second tyre stop 16 seconds behind race leader Kimi Antonelli. By lap 48 he had closed back onto Antonelli and second-placed Max Verstappen, but could not find a way through either driver.

Stella was candid about the slow pit stop but argued it was ultimately irrelevant to the outcome. “Because probably Lando would have [come out] anyhow behind [George] Russell,” he said. “And even if not, it would have not been possible to overtake Verstappen and Antonelli. So, definitely, we take note that there’s a lot of work to do in our operation. And it’s not the first time that we have a slow stop. But in terms of the race itself, it didn’t make a difference.”

The numbers support his assessment. Sunday’s race produced just 10 overtaking moves — the fewest of the 2026 season so far and fewer even than Monaco, which managed 11. Four of those 10 involved backmarkers Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll being passed at the tail of the field.

The circuit’s Turn 5, the heaviest braking zone on the lap, was identified as the central problem. Positioned immediately after a curve, it narrows the available line and makes side-by-side braking extremely difficult.

“When it comes to overtaking, it’s a shame that it’s so difficult,” Stella said. “It just requires a large, large lap time difference to be able to overtake. I think what F1 will have to review is whether there are some modifications required at this circuit in order to introduce an overtaking possibility. Because at the moment, the fact is that the straight may be long enough, but there’s absolutely no way that two cars can enter [Turn] 5 together. So it’s basically impossible an attempt of overtaking — which is a bit of a shame, because I think if overtaking was possible today, we would have [had] Lando regaining the lead, because the pace advantage was significant.”