Lando Norris has established himself as a fantastic team player at McLaren, having obeyed his side’s orders throughout the 2024 season. However, F1 expert Peter Windsor believes that such a ‘nice guy’ image will not take Norris very far in F1 and has instead suggested the Briton to follow Michael Schumacher’s footsteps by stamping his authority in the team.
“Become a really cold hard professional in a sort of Michael Schumacher-like way and trample on everybody within the team,” is what Windsor said on Cameron’s YouTube channel. Windsor has given such a suggestion as he believes McLaren cost the 24-year-old the opportunity to win his maiden title this year.
“I put myself in his shoes… I had to do what was right”
A bittersweet P2 for Lando Norris after surrendering the win to team mate Oscar Piastri#F1 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/ApwgJoKaG4
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 21, 2024
Windsor pointed out how McLaren were out of line to ask Norris to give up the win in Hungary when it was the team that messed up the strategy. So, the Australian journalist believes that the team should apologize to Norris as that race result cost the British driver crucial points.
The question that arises is whether Norris needs to establish his authority at McLaren, as Windsor suggested, if he wants to achieve his dream of winning the world championship. History suggests that rarely any driver has achieved success in a sport by being a nice guy.
The likes of Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, and Max Verstappen have all demanded the number one driver role in the team. Perhaps, Norris will need to do the same despite McLaren wanting to treat both their drivers equally.
McLaren could face a serious challenge in 2025
With McLaren winning the Constructors’ title this season and arguably having the best package, they are likely to be the favorites next year as well. Both Norris and his teammate Oscar Piastri will hope to use this to their advantage and fight for wins.
If a scenario emerges in which both Norris and Piastri have a reasonable chance of fighting for their maiden Drivers’ title, this could give McLaren a huge headache in managing their drivers. They will then no longer be able to impose team orders as both drivers will want to win and won’t take it kindly if McLaren prioritize either one of them.
Piastri’s improvement over the past two seasons is something that is likely to cause this trouble for the Woking outfit. The Aussie driver has matched Norris time and again and even driven better than him, so there is a high chance he could compete fiercely against his teammate for the 2025 championship.
However, McLaren CEO Zak Brown is not worried about having any such issues as he believes his drivers are mature enough to do the right thing. “Next [we’ll] try and repeat the constructors’ and get the drivers’, I’ll let Oscar and Lando figure that one out,” he said.
