To win his first-ever World championship, Lando Norris has to overcome a 62-point deficit to leader Max Verstappen. With eight races remaining, it is doable, but McLaren is making life difficult for the Briton. Acclaimed F1 journalist Will Buxton feels that the Woking-based team is not doing enough, and will cost Norris a golden opportunity to win the crown.
In The Race‘s podcast, Buxton stated that McLaren should have gone all out to support Norris the moment he reached second place in the standings. “I just think they’re ballsing it up and I think they’re going to throw it away,” he said.
Buxton added that he cannot come up with a possible explanation behind McLaren not choosing to back Norris’ title pursuit. “…unless they really don’t care and all they’re concerned about is the constructors. It makes it makes no sense to me what they’re doing.”
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Per the Briton, McLaren should’ve focused all their energy on maximizing Norris‘ output since the Austrian GP. Despite the slim chance and massive points deficit, the MCL38’s pace has the potential to help Norris catch up to Verstappen.
McLaren, however, continues to complicate matters by refusing to designate a clear number one driver. Oscar Piastri, who has been contending for wins in recent races, has been given the green light to push hard, which is affecting Norris’s points.
The team and Piastri have openly stated that their focus is on McLaren’s overall points haul, making Norris’s Championship charge increasingly challenging.
Is McLaren overlooking Norris?
Commercially, the Constructors’ Championship is more significant for a team, as it brings in the most revenue. However, it is rare for teams to ignore the Drivers’ title, especially when they have a strong chance of winning it.
As it stands, McLaren is just eight points behind Red Bull in the standings and aims to take the lead in the next race in Baku. At the same time, they must watch out for Ferrari, who are only 21 points behind the papaya team. This situation makes McLaren wary and focused on maximizing their results to ensure they leave each race weekend with the highest possible number of points.
There are also reports that Piastri’s contract has a clause, which states that he has to get equal weightage in the team as Norris.
However, with time running out and Norris needing to overcome a significant gap to win the title, his chances may have already slipped away. He has also refused to beg for victories and track positions, insisting that he will aim to win races and potentially the title through his talent, rather than relying on team orders.
