Racing
© Jonathan Borba
The Guardian has reported that Lando Norris’s management team repeatedly intervened to block questions about Formula 1’s 2026 regulations, George Russell, Max Verstappen and even whether McLaren could catch Mercedes, despite Norris making clear he was willing to answer.
According to Donald McRae of The Guardian, he was told a few hours before the interview that Norris was not to discuss his “friendship and rivalry” with Russell and Verstappen or the new rules. McRae wrote that, with 10 minutes left, a manager’s voice came through a phone placed on the table to insist there could be no questions on the regulations, while a representative in the room stepped in and said: “We’re done with time.”
McRae said Norris did not appear to agree with the shutdown. When the interview was halted, Norris reportedly said, “I’m not the boss,” while smiling awkwardly, and indicated he was open to answering the question.
The most striking exchange came when McRae asked whether Mercedes could still be caught this season. In McRae’s account, the representative again tried to close the conversation, saying: “No, we’re not answering that.” Norris then pushed back, asking, “Why? Say yes,” before answering himself: “Yes, they can [be caught], and we’re doing our best to make sure it’ll be [McLaren] who do that.”
McRae also reported that Norris answered a question about Verstappen’s future in F1 even after his management team laughed about it. Norris said: “I’ve no idea, Max can do whatever he likes.” The representative then spoke on his behalf, saying: “He’s an amazing guy. Max is the best person ever, and we love him. Quote.”
The episode stands out because Norris has already been one of the most vocal drivers on the 2026 package. Before the season, he warned that the rules could create closing speeds of “30, 40, 50kph” and said that if one driver hit another at that speed, “you are going to fly and go over the fence and do a lot of damage to yourself and maybe to others.”
He has also spoken publicly about the power unit side of the regulations more recently. At a McLaren Pirelli tyre test, Norris said: “It’s not the car I’m struggling with, it’s the bit behind us that I’m not enjoying as much, the power unit regulations.” He pointed to a scenario in Japan where battery deployment was triggered when he did not want it, leaving him vulnerable on the next straight, and said that was taking “too much control away from the driver.”
That made the reported restrictions especially conspicuous at a sensitive moment for the sport. Debate over the 2026 rules had intensified after a high-speed incident in Japan in which Oliver Bearman swerved onto the grass at 308kph to avoid Franco Colapinto as their speed difference approached 50kph, before spinning into a barrier. With the FIA World Motor Sport Council due to vote on proposed changes, the attempt to stop Norris discussing a set of rules he has already criticized publicly only sharpened attention on both the regulations and the way his interview was handled.