Photo: Race Pictures

Norris foreshadows more ‘chaotic racing’ in 2026 through ‘yo-yo’ dynamics

08:15, 05 Feb

byTobia Elia

Lando Norris has warned fans that the way energy is deployed on the 2026 cars could lead to more “chaotic racing.”

“What you’re going to see is generally more — almost more chaotic racing, depending on when people use the boost button and at what times”

- Lando Norris

The role of the battery and how this boost mode will be deployed — working in tandem with active aerodynamics — is one of the major talking points ahead of the new era, with anticipation running high over how overtaking will actually work with this next generation of cars.

Speaking to a select group of media, including GPblog, the 2025 world champion said: “I think what you're going to see is generally just more — you can have almost more chaotic racing, depending on when people use the boost button, at what times, because there's a lot of straights in places — say even in Barcelona — where you don't really deploy the battery that much.

“Say between turn five to turn seven, it's a little straight, but if you use boost out of it, you gain a good amount of horsepower and you can overtake someone into seven, which you'd never normally see before. The only thing is then you're screwed down to turn 10. But you'll be able to force people in different positions and kind of create racing potentially in better ways than you have been able to in the past. I think that's probably a better thing, a good thing.”

Photo: RacePictures

One concern raised by some is the risk of significant disparities in top speed at certain points during a race, with drivers appearing far quicker than others depending on how effectively they have managed and conserved their available energy.

Asked whether that could translate into a more pronounced “yo-yo” effect in racing, Norris answered in the affirmative: “I think you’re going to see more of that. You’re going to see someone potentially pull off an overtake — maybe not even because they’re much quicker — but simply because they can, with the consequence then being a lap or two spent trying to recover the battery in the correct way.”

Norris warns 2026 cars demand 'different ways' to extract pace

McLaren ended the Barcelona test on a high as Norris reportedly posted the second-quickest lap on the final day.

Initial delays and minor setbacks had limited mileage at the start of the test, but Norris ultimately finished just two tenths behind Lewis Hamilton, whose Ferrari produced the fastest lap of the entire session. After climbing out of the car, the reigning world champion spoke about how markedly different the driving experience felt compared to the previous season.

Read the full story here.