Lando Norris, in his very first days in F1 back in 2019, claimed that Lewis Hamilton had it much easier in his rookie years in F1 than what the drivers have to face now. Norris’ argument was based on the fact that Hamilton was privileged with more testing time compared to the restrictions in place today.
In Norris’ biography written by Ben Hunt, he is quoted as saying, “He [Hamilton] joined in a race-winning car and we are very far from that. He joined F1 when you could do as many test days as you wanted so he came in with a lot more experience than new drivers do nowadays. And he’s pretty much always been in a race-winning car.”
PERFORMANCE IN STREET CIRCUITS
Qualys ahead of his teammate:
Fernando Alonso: 83.58% (56/67)
Lando Norris: 80.0% (16/20)
Alexander Albon: 76.47% (13/17)
Charles Leclerc: 70.83% (17/24)
George Russell: 70.0% (14/20)
Kevin Magnussen: 65.62% (21/32)
Lewis Hamilton: 64.52%… pic.twitter.com/OvyhomcLbZ— Holiness (@Big_Data_Master) December 18, 2023
When Hamilton made his F1 debut, in 2007, F1 teams were heavily invested in testing. Unlike today, without any restrictions, teams would have multiple testing days between the normal calendar and would even go to circuits beyond the scope of the calendar to test out their cars and upgrades.
The on track tests have now been replaced with simulator work. Nonetheless, Norris also believes that Hamilton was bestowed with a championship-winning car from day one, something the 23-year-old feels he’s been denied of.
Despite McLaren debut, Lando Norris dealt with the shorter end of the stick as compared to Lewis Hamilton
Like Hamilton, Norris made his debut in F1 with McLaren. However, the McLaren of 2007 and 2019 were completely different teams. While in 2007 the team were in championship contention, in 2019 the team were still recovery from the harrowing Honda years.
After a disastrous start to the turbo-hybrid era of the sport, McLaren were on a rebuilding mission. In their earlier avatar, in the early to mid 2000s, however, they were a championship outfit, often in a battle with the likes of Ferrari for the title.
| Andrea Stella on the best drivers in F1:
“My top 3 drivers with equal cars would be – Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso.”
[@DAZN_ES] pic.twitter.com/ucH0oEn5jP
— formularacers (@formularacers_) December 11, 2023
After Honda came the Renault power unit. This revealed their flaws as it turned out the underpowered Honda engine was just a part of the problem. Mainly, the team suffered from a flawed aerodynamic philosophy, too. Since 2019, the team has been clawing back performance. In 2023, they made arguably their biggest step forward yet.
For 2024, the team expects to be in the contention to consistently challenge for wins. If they want to retain Lando Norris for the long-term future, this has to be their regular standard.
