Lando Norris fears Ferrari will dominate and “embarrass everyone” with F1 engine gains
Originally published by Crash.net
Lando Norris fears Ferrari could “embarrass” its Formula 1 rivals if the Italian team is able to improve its power unit.
Reigning world champion Norris finished a distant third in Sunday’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, nearly 24 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton, who scored a first F1 victory with Ferrari.
Hamilton also finished almost 20 seconds clear of George Russell as the seven-time world champion produced a masterclass performance to end Mercedes’ unbeaten streak in 2026.
Norris is worried about Ferrari's potential
And Norris has warned that Ferrari would be dominating in F1 if it is able to make big gains with its engine.
"We're lucky that Ferrari doesn't have a better engine at the minute," Norris told Sky Sports F1 after the race.
"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. It's the realistic point of it. We're a long, long way from where we need to be.
"If they make improvements on the engine side, then they'll embarrass everyone. We need to really get our heads down and see what improvements we can do.”
Ferrari has been granted two engine upgrades for this season and two for next year under F1’s Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) system.
Ferrari will be able to upgrade its engine this season
According to McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, Ferrari has “the best chassis” in F1 this season.
"We see, especially in the medium speed corner, that Ferrari is the fastest in the corners, not necessarily the fastest in the straights," Stella said.
"We see that, from a McLaren point of view, we are competitive in the high-speed corners, like corners 3, 9, and corner 14, but overall we struggle with grip in medium-speed and low-speed.”
Stella added: "[Ferrari] were able to upgrade their car, they gained performance and now they lean on winning races and today they could capitalise. So, definitely there is work [for McLaren] to do with the car performance."
The result, coupled with Andrea Kimi Antonelli retiring, has seen Hamilton reduce his deficit in the championship to 41 points.