Lando Norris’ pursuit of the Championship has been a breath of fresh air for those who were bored of Max Verstappen’s dominance. However, the F1 community has also criticized Norris’ umpteenth number of mistakes, which have placed him on the brink of losing out on the chance to win the title. David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan discussed this recently and agreed that Norris isn’t quite ready yet.
Coulthard pointed out how challenging for the title was a first-time experience for many in the young McLaren outfit. The Woking-based outfit making mistakes would only be natural. Jordan, however, chose to point out Norris’ faults — his inconsistency and weaknesses.
He started from the pole and ended up at P6.
Lando Norris reflects on his ups and downs at Interlagos#F1 #BrazilGP pic.twitter.com/FKbq0y7XmL
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 3, 2024
“Lando hasn’t quite got there yet. He hasn’t got there on the start, he hasn’t got there on the pole position run to the corner,” Jordan said on the Formula for Success podcast. While the former F1 team owner believes Norris has the speed, he has yet to reach Verstappen’s level of performance on all fronts.
He advised that Norris should reflect on his mistakes this season. “Lando has to look at himself long and hard this winter into the mirror and say to himself, ‘If I’m going to be a great world champion, I have a lot to learn here’.” Coulthard, a former Red Bull driver, agreed.
What Jordan opined, was on perfect display at the Sao Paulo GP last weekend. Despite starting from P1, Norris got off to a bad start and gave the lead to George Russell, from where his entire race unraveled. He finished the race in P6, effectively handing Verstappen the Driver’s title.
Has Norris’ poor race starts cost him the 2024 title?
Jordan and Coulthard further highlighted that the Briton could have won many more races this season if he had better race starts. Given that he had the fastest car since the Miami GP, it’s surprising he only won two other races beyond the one in Florida.
The Spanish GP was one of those races where Norris went on the back foot at the get-go, dropping down to third behind Russell and Verstappen. From there on, it was a struggle-filled chase for him to get back in the lead, which never happened due to Red Bull’s proper management of Verstappen‘s race.
CRAZY STAT!
Lando Norris has started from pole five times. Every time, he’s lost the lead to a different driver on the first lap of the race! pic.twitter.com/M5YqS3qg1T
— GPFans Global (@GPFansGlobal) July 24, 2024
The Hungarian GP was also another example where Norris played himself out of the win contention. Losing the lead to Oscar Piastri complicated the matter for McLaren and the resultant team orders chaos when they pitted the Briton first at the second round of pitstops, which was a bitter pill to swallow for Norris.
Similarly, the races in Belgium, Italy, Austin, and Brazil could have seen the #4 driver triumph had he started better. The vital points earned in these victories could have helped Norris massively, reducing Verstappen’s lead, which is currently at 62 with three rounds remaining.
This puts the Dutchman within touching distance of winning his fourth World Championship.
