Lando Norris suffers a significant setback in Japan – Having won back to back constructor titles and seen their driver Lando Norris claim his maiden F1 drivers championship, McLaren were riding high coming into the 2026 Formula One season. But how quickly did things go wrong?
At his home Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri was caught out by his Mercedes power unit taking over mid-way through a corner and spinning him into the barriers on the way to the start grid.
Next time out in Shanghai, neither McLaren cars made it to the grid with reported battery issues to blame and for Lando Norris the news from Mercedes was doubly worse as they revealed there is no way to fix his energy store.
Norris used 1/3rd of his battery allowance for 2026
This means the world champion is now on his second of three batteries allowed for the season. When he takes a fourth he will suffer a ten place grid drop. Mercedes gained permission from the FIA to replace an errant component in Piastri’s battery but it will only be after free practice one when it is clear whether the fix has worked.
Mercedes have been tight lipped over the McLaren battery problems and its not clear whether this is related to how it is installed in the MCL40 or whether Mercedes themselves have been “lucky” not to suffer a similar failure.
During qualifying in China, George Russell stopped on track at the start of the final session although he eventually limped his Mercedes W17 back to the pitlane. The championship leader did eventually make it out for one final push run, but was pipped to pole position by his team mate Kimi Antonelli.
Mercedes have been the focus of Ferrari’s spy squad who had asked the FIA to clarify strange goings on with the W17’s front wing in China. Eagle eyed fans spotted the transition from the wing being laid flat to reduce drag along the straights, to upright – for the corners was taking an inordinate amount of time.
Fernando Alonso fails to show up in Japan on time & hands seat to Jack Crawford
Mercedes F1 engineers are fallible
The transition time allowed between the X and Y modes of the F1 car wings is 400ms. Mercedes was in fact double that during the weekend in Shanghai. Of course numerous conspiracy theories have since abounded over why Mercedes may wish to be on breach of the FIA transition time rules.
Yet it appears the all conquering silver arrows team is in fact fallible in one way at least. Apparently the engineers had failed to calculate properly the forces required for the wings transition and sufficient hydraulic pressure was not available. Mercedes were aware of the issue in China and changed George Russell’s front wing accordingly.
Yet the problem was not completely fixed as race winner Kimi Antonelli suffered something similar during the Grand Prix. Having been contacted by Ferrari over the matter, the FIA asked Mercedes for an explanation. Officials for F1’s governing body have said for now they are satisfied with the explanation offered. All eyes will be on Russell and Antonelli’s front wings again this weekend.
Other power trains matters of course include Honda who have had a shocking start to the new F1 regulation era. Neither cars have managed to complete a Grand Prix so far this season. Lance Stroll was forced to retire his Honda powered Aston Martin car on lap 10 last time out in Shanghai, the reason given “battery related issues.”
A deeper dive into Mercedes’ treatment of George Russell as “temporary”
Honda tight lipped at their home GP
Whilst Fernando Alonso was not forced to retire by complete mechanical failure, he chose to do so on lap 34 given the vibrations coming from the Honda engine were making his fingers numb. The Japanese manufacturer have been tight lipped over the exact nature of their issues although their trackside boss, Shintaro Orihara insists they “fully understand” what went wrong on Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin at the Chinese GP. At the season opener in Melbourne, Aston Martin team principal revealed there were no spare batteries for his cars should one fail and no hope of one being delivered before the Chinese Grand Prix.
Whilst Orihara refused to reveal what the exact stock of battery’s is now, he did says that Honda were “confident” on this score. He is also “confident we will finish the race” in Suzuka, which given what has gone before would be a milestone for the Japanese manufacturer. That said, the bar is set low presently.
In other news from Japan, having said they would take no action before this weekend over the farce that is qualifying, the FIA did a U-Turn. To prevent cars running out of electrical energy and having to lift and coast along with super clipping, the amount of energy available to the drivers has been reduced from 9MJ to 8MJ per lap in Suzuka.
This decision was agreed unanimously with the manufacturers but will obviously result in a reduction in the overall speed of the cars. That said, there is an expectation that there will be 4 seconds less a lap for the drivers to endure the super clipping phenomenon.
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FIA last minute U-Turn on racing rules in Japan
Super clipping is a 2026 Formula 1 technical phenomenon where the power unit harvests energy to recharge the battery while the driver is still at full throttle on a straight. This results in an unexpected drop in speed towards the end of the straight, most visible at the season opener in Melbourne.
This technique is required because the mandated amount of electrical energy a 2026 F1 power unit must deliver, cannot be harvested by merely braking alone. The internal engine then becomes a generator for the battery, diverting power from the rear axle and so the cars slow down.
The late decision to reduce the amount of electrical power available has miffed a number of the drivers who have prepared long and hard in the simulators prior to this weekend. When asked about the last minute change, Williams driver Alex Albon said of his preparation for the weekend, “its all in the bin”.
This solution to artificially charging the battery will be discussed at length following the Japanese Grand Prix, the FIA have indicated. Other solutions include upping the allowable fuel flow rate, although the FIA’s net zero push for 2030 may deem this unacceptable.
NEXT ARTICLE: Report: Hulkenberg reveals “fundamental problem” led to Audi F1 boss departure
Last Updated on March 26 2026, 12:54 pm
One of the more bizarre Formula One happenings took place in the week leading top to the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix. Jonathan Wheatley, the team principal, left the new F1 outfit with immediate effect.
Wheatley was a lifer at Milton Keynes, fulfilling the role of sporting director for many years. He was credited with why Red Bull Racing was such a slick operation trackside and his knowledge of the sporting regulations put certain F1 race directors to shame.
Yet the ‘call up higher’ came from Audi in August 2024 and given his loyalty to the Milton Keynes based organisation an exit with minimal garden leave was expedited. Clearly, Red Bull would not stand in the way of one of their own having been offered the top job at another team…. CONTINUE READING
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