Why F1 rival’s clear weakness could GIFT fourth title to Verstappen
Why F1 rival’s clear weakness could GIFT fourth title to Verstappen
With Max Verstappen relegated to an 11th-place start after a grid penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix, his nearest championship rival had a huge chance to eat into the Dutchman's advantage in the standings.
Ahead of the three-week long summer break which precedes the final ten rounds of the season, and piloting a car which has been the fastest on the ground for months at this point, Lando Norris was looking to make clear that the title race is still alive and that he is the man to hold the triple world champion’s feet to the fire.
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Instead, Norris’ race was ruined after a single corner.
Starting in fourth place after Saturday’s damp qualifying session, the 24-year-old was on the outside heading into Turn 1, often the favorable side of the grid at Spa Francorchamps as it allows for a wider line heading into the high-speed section which follows. Unfortunately for the Brit, it was all downhill from there.
What happened to Lando Norris in Belgium?
Having been caught out by his faster-starting team-mate Oscar Piastri off the line, Norris inexplicably dipped the rear left of his McLaren into the gravel on exit at La Source and lost position to both George Russell and Carlos Sainz, demoting him to seventh place.
From there, Norris was stuck in a series if DRS trains throughout the race. Trying an alternative strategy in an attempt to salvage something, McLaren left him out on track when others were stopping at the end of the first stint.
In a race where the undercut was very powerful, Norris had no chance of contending for the podium.
Piastri, meanwhile, was handily-placed and managed to use his more advantageous track position to pass the likes of Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc ahead.
A first-time race winner in Hungary last weekend, the Australian spent the latter stages of the race hunting down leaders Russell and Lewis Hamilton, finishing just over a second behind the former once the checkered flag fell.
READ MORE: Late disqualification drama hands Hamilton win as Red Bull THRASHED in dramatic battle
That third-place finish was upgraded to second, of course, once Russell was disqualified in the hours after the race for having an underweight car.
Put simply, Norris would have been in Piastri’s position had he not started so poorly and made the error which gave his team-mate the advantage both in terms of track position and strategy.
With Piastri having made an error at his final pitstop, costing himself two seconds by overshooting his box, Norris could well have challenged Hamilton for the win. Instead, he finished fifth, one place behind Verstappen.
What did Lando Norris say after the Belgian Grand Prix
Afterward, a very subdued Norris was honest about his assessment of his own performance.
“I went off in Turn 1 and that ruined my whole race so that’s it,” he said. “The strategy was good. It seemed in the end whoever undercut the most won the race, [but] we did what we thought was best.
"I think the pace in the car was good, maybe could have been a little bit more aggressive. Dirty air costs you so much and I was always in the dirty air.
“From a team side, [I’m] super happy. I just feel in the last few races I’ve messed up a lot and been giving away a lot of points. I’m going to do a little reset and come back stronger.
Norris’ post-race analysis has always been self-reflective, often refreshingly so, but has become increasingly scathing in recent rounds as he has challenged at the front of the field more frequently and become the most credible opposition to Verstappen.
On occasion it has felt unjustified, Norris perhaps taking too much of the blame for weekends where McLaren seemed capable of winning but, for one reason or another, did not.
READ MORE: Has Lewis Hamilton made a massive mistake? - GPFans Belgian GP Hot Takes
Here, though, it would have been hard to dispute Norris’ conclusion - his start was indeed woeful and did cost him any chance of scoring significant points.
Furthermore, the regularity of his poor starts is becoming a glaring weakness in his season, the kind which could gift the title to Verstappen if he is unable to improve.
What is Lando Norris’ record from pole position?
The Brit has started first twice this season, in Spain and Hungary, but on both occasions was overtaken by rivals before the exit of the first corner. In fact, Norris has failed to hold onto first place during the opening lap on all five occasions he has qualified on pole in his career so far.
At plenty of grands prix so far this season, he has been outdone by those around him on the run to the first corner. Not only does that give him more overtaking to do just to make it back to where he started, but it compromises his strategy options for the remainder of the race.
The reality is that Norris is very unlikely to beat Verstappen to the title this year regardless of his starts – the Dutchman still enjoys a solid advantage in the standings thanks to Red Bull’s strong early-season form, and he possesses more than enough street smarts to get himself over the line if the gap does narrow between now and the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Norris has demonstrated consistent speed throughout the course of the campaign so far, but if he is to avoid handing over the title to Verstappen on a silver platter, he must snuff out a problem which has become far too regular a feature of his driving as the pressure at the front has ramped up.
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F1 Race Calendar 2024
-
GP JAPAN
5 - 7 Apr
Max Verstappen
-
GP CHINA
19 - 21 Apr
Max Verstappen
-
GP USA
3 - 5 May
Lando Norris
-
GP ITALY
17 - 19 May
Max Verstappen
-
GP MONACO
24 - 26 May
Charles Leclerc
-
GP CANADA
7 - 9 Jun
Max Verstappen
-
GP SPAIN
21 - 23 Jun
Max Verstappen
-
GP AUSTRIA
28 - 30 Jun
George Russell
-
GP GREAT BRITAIN
5 - 7 Jul
Lewis Hamilton
-
GP HUNGARY
19 - 21 Jul
Oscar Piastri
-
GP BELGIUM
26 - 28 Jul
Lewis Hamilton
-
GP NETHERLANDS
23 - 25 Aug
Lando Norris
-
GP ITALY
30 Aug - 1 Sep
Charles Leclerc
-
GP AZERBAIJAN
13 - 15 Sep
Oscar Piastri
- GP SINGAPORE 20 - 22 Sep
- GP USA 18 - 20 Oct
- GP MEXICO 25 - 27 Oct
- GP BRAZIL 1 - 3 Nov
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F1 Standings
Drivers
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Franco Alejandro Colapinto
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Oliver Bearman
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- AWS Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
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