Lando Norris had an incredibly difficult weekend in Qatar as he underperformed massively when compared to his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri. Even though the Briton only scored five points fewer than his teammate, what hurt him most were his mistakes. Since the 23-year-old had such a tough weekend, he constantly criticized himself and barely managed to take any positives until the main race on Sunday. Although Piastri beat Norris even during the main race, the Briton was involved in a world record moment. As a result, he attempted to take a win out of the same but failed.
While Norris and McLaren were no match for Max Verstappen and Red Bull during the main race of the Qatar Grand Prix, they did manage to beat the Milton Keynes outfit in one aspect. McLaren recorded a stunning pit stop of just 1.8 seconds when the 23-year-old came in for a change of tires.
Since Norris was involved in the moment, he attempted to take credit for the same while conversing with his friends. However, his friends were quick to point out that the McLaren driver had no major role to play in it and that the record belonged to the team.
Lando Norris attempts to take credit for McLaren’s record-breaking pit stop
Following the conclusion of a difficult Qatar GP, Lando Norris was all smiles when he was streaming with his friends. The Briton explained how he registered a record-breaking moment during the race. “Guys can you believe I am a Guinness World Record holder,” began Norris.
lando on the 1.8 pit stop: “guys can you believe i’m a Guinness world record holder?” pic.twitter.com/xsWuuablFT
— Ray 🏎️ (@ln4norris) October 9, 2023
When one of his friends asked if he was referring to his pit crew, the Briton hilariously replied, “It’s actually a lot with the driver. If I like didn’t break, how they gonna stop me. Do you know what I mean?… That was a joke. 1.8! Like there’s no reason the pit stop should be anywhere near as quick as what they were a few years ago“.
However, much to Norris’ surprise, one of his friends told him that the commentators did not even discuss McLaren’s record. While the 23-year-old was in a jovial mood with his friends, he was incredibly low during the Qatar GP weekend. As a result of how distraught Norris seemed, Alex Brundle hopes that McLaren supports him.
Alex Brundle urges McLaren to support Norris in times of difficulty
While speaking on the most recent episode of the Chequered Flag podcast, Alex Brundle expressed concern about there being a possibility that Lando Norris collapses with the increasing pressure that Oscar Piastri has been putting on him this season. As a result, the F1 expert believes that it is key for McLaren that they support the Briton.
Close, but it’s on me. I messed it up today. Sorry pic.twitter.com/HaBCwNcUuA
— Lando Norris (@LandoNorris) October 6, 2023
“They’re really going to have to support Lando Norris and I think it might be actually McLaren’s biggest battle moving into next season to make sure that actually they don’t have a collapse of the guard of Lando Norris. Specifically with all of the pressure that Oscar Piastri is bringing to the lineup,” explained Brundle.
While Norris was definitely not happy with his performances this past weekend in Qatar, he is convincingly ahead of Piastri in the championship. As things stand, the 23-year-old is currently seventh with 136 points. He is 53 points ahead of Piastri, who is currently ninth in the championship.
