Norris Blasts F1 Speed Limiter for Ruining Overtaking at Mexico GP

Lando Norris says Formula 1's 2026 battery-deployment speed limit is undermining overtaking by making cars with similar pace hit the same top-speed ceiling, even when one has a slipstream.

The McLaren driver encountered the problem first-hand during last weekend's Mexico City Grand Prix.

He found himself battling Ferrari's Charles Leclerc with precious little opportunity to attack.

In his view, the problem is not simply a question of insufficient power or aerodynamic performance.

It is a regulatory limit that effectively neutralises any advantage a pursuing driver might gain.

The long front straight at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez stretches approximately 1.2 kilometres.

That should offer an ideal opportunity to exploit a tow and make a decisive move.

Instead, Norris argues, the deployment ceiling can leave the attacking car with no meaningful speed advantage, regardless of how well its driver has positioned it.

"I mean the main thing with overtaking is you just have the limiter on," Norris explained.

"Like you literally have a limiter that stops you from going over a speed, so it doesn't matter if you come out two tenths behind the guy, you just hit the limiter and the same limiter as them, and then you cannot do anything, so it kind of ruins racing."

Lewis Hamilton has also criticised the rule.

Norris says the problem is the software limit — not the power-unit hardware.

By the numbers, maximum electrical deployment is capped at 350 kW.

In standard mode, deployment tapers above about 290 km/h and stops at 345 km/h.

Overtake mode raises the limit to 355 km/h.

That means two cars with closely matched pace will hit the same ceiling on a long straight.

The slipstream — one of racing's simplest and most reliable passing tools — becomes useless.

Norris invoked an unlikely comparison to illustrate just how restrictive the limit is.

He argued that F1 cars should easily go quicker than a motorbike.

The 2026 technical regulations have introduced a radically different relationship between electrical energy and outright performance.

Active aerodynamics and Straight Mode, which reduces aerodynamic drag on designated sections of the circuit, are central to the new generation of cars.

Yet Norris believes the potential of those systems is being compromised by the restrictions governing how much electrical power drivers can deploy.

The speed-linked deployment limits are removed from the 2027 regulations.

Until then, drivers will race under the current restrictions.

The limits are set to disappear in 2027, alongside planned changes intended to ease energy shortages.

Those changes include increased fuel flow, turbo boost and energy harvesting.

Norris did acknowledge that McLaren's poor Saturday — not just the regulations — contributed to his result in Mexico.

He also argued that a major pace advantage can still make a pass possible.

But when cars are closely matched, the limiter can erase the advantage of a draft.

Drivers say the limiter can erase the advantage of a draft when cars are closely matched.

The debate is about more than outright speed.

When software limits neutralize a slipstream, they can take away one of racing's simplest and most reliable passing tools.

Norris won back-to-back races either side of the summer break in Budapest and Zandvoort.

He should have won the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, if not for an unfortunate Virtual Safety Car.

McLaren introduced upgrades to the car in Baku in September and have not been at the sharp end of the grid since that event.

Norris, who is sixth in the F1 Drivers' Championship, says the car has "got better every time we brought upgrades" but is also unhappy with the MCL40's handling.

"The car has been horrible, difficult to drive the whole season," Norris said.

"Just other teams have brought a lot more upgrades since and improved a lot more than what we have - nothing more than that."

"The team are still doing a good job, considering we were 1.5 to one second off at the beginning of the year."

"The fact we won almost three races was a pretty sizeable achievement in itself, so we have had a pretty good year, if you want to look at it from that perspective."

McLaren have not been in contention for victory in recent races.

Norris puts that down to the team being outdeveloped by Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari.

With the aim of getting back to the front, McLaren have a new front wing, rear wing and floor components for Brazil.