Tough at top: Bad decisions have cost Norris four victories

On Sunday, Lando Norris was watching the European Championship final at Berlin’s Olympiastadion. It was something of a release, a chance for the escapism of football after a difficult few weeks on the track.
When Lewis Hamilton claimed his first victory in 945 days, at Silverstone the previous weekend, Norris admitted he was “not making the right decisions” having again been at the wrong end of a strategy gamble.
Norris had registered his maiden grand prix victory at the 110th attempt in Miami, and could feasibly have added more wins in the past four races: in Canada he and his McLaren team missed the opportune window to pit; in Spain a marginally poorer start than Max Verstappen meant he lost track position; in Austria, Verstappen crashed into him; and at Silverstone he slightly overshot his pit box, contributing to a slower stop, and between him and the team the wrong compound choice was chosen in the crucial final stint.
These failures were all down to fine margins but, as Norris and McLaren are discovering on their rapid ascent, more often than not you need to be perfect to beat Verstappen.
Andrea Stella, McLaren’s highly rated team principal, admitted their decision-making in pressurised scenarios was “under construction” compared to Mercedes and Red Bull, who have much more experience of race-winning strategy calls.
“A little bit of it is to do with us being at the front, a little bit of it … it just doesn’t matter if we are first or last — it’s just how we work in those situations and those conditions,” Norris, 24, said. “Even in the past, if we go back to Sochi [in 2021, he lost the race lead on the wrong tyres when it rained], a similar scenario where, as much as people say I got told to box, I never got told to box, whereas other drivers got told to.
“There’s stuff on the team side and stuff on my side, that’s what we’ve spoken about.”
Before the Euro 2024 final, Norris spent three days at the Woking Technology Centre with the team, reviewing what had happened at Silverstone. But the conversation around the errant strategy call was a short one, with discussions instead focused on how they could improve as a team and also individually, highlighting that in dry conditions they have been more successful in those marginal calls than in the wet or changeable weather.
“Part of it is being strong through those times, as a team,” said Norris, who is 84 points behind Verstappen in the drivers’ standings. “After Silverstone, I was probably one of the guys who got over it the quickest, because I was like, ‘Well, this happened, we’ll review it and we’ll go ahead.’ [It was] probably more some of the other guys in the factory that felt worse off because they were like, ‘Damn, we missed out on the race win.’
“Just as much as I blame myself, other people blame themselves at the same time, which is a good thing, because none of us were pointing fingers.
“Being now in that situation, of having chances to win, which Mercedes have been in for years, Ferrari, Red Bull … it’s a new emotional situation for us as a team and dealing with that in a slightly better way… we are working on it.”
As Norris is quick to point out, McLaren have still been, on average, the best team over the past month. Their pace, and that of Mercedes, who have won the previous two races, has been enough to sufficiently worry Red Bull and Verstappen.
The world champion’s car has a significant upgrade for this weekend’s race at the Hungaroring, and he has admitted the success of it is crucial for his future prospects. “If this is not giving us some good [improved] lap time, then I don’t know how the rest of the season is going to evolve,” Verstappen said.
Red Bull are a team used to not only winning, but utterly dominating. That other teams have had more time to get used to the present set of regulations has contributed to their loss of advantage, as has reduced time in the wind tunnel — allocated so the teams at the back of the field have more opportunity to develop.
The upgrade they have brought to Hungary is their biggest of the season so far, with developments to the front and rear corners, front wing (to increase downforce), halo and a new engine cover design which now features cooling “gills”. The work has been fast-tracked, with Paul Monaghan, Red Bull’s chief engineer, quick to praise the work of those at Milton Keynes. “Everyone at the factory has done a stunning job because we got it here earlier than expected,” he said.
Verstappen is a Manchester City-esque winning machine — allow him a lead and the chance of success disappears up the track with him. Yet there is a growing feeling that this season driving on his limit — which is arguably what he is better at than anyone on the grid — will not be enough as the pack advance. The Dutchman is notoriously straightforward in his responses, but he usually displays a cool head. Exactly how honest he was in revealing his desire for this upgrade to work, shows that the pressure is increasing.
Norris has experienced the feeling of disappointment too often of late. If he has serious title hopes, he and his team will need to have a faultless weekend, while watching with interest as Red Bull’s upgrades take to the track.
“We’ve made the biggest step we can make. Is it enough? We’ll find out on Sunday afternoon. That’s really the rating of it,” Monaghan said.
⬤ Friday’s second practice was interrupted by a high-speed crash for Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari driver lost control at turn four at a corner reaching speeds up to 150mph — the fastest at the Hungaroring — crashing into the barrier. He reported that he was “ok” but his car was damaged. Norris led the timing screens, with Verstappen in second.
TV Sky SportsSaturday Free practice coverage from 11.30am. Qualifying at 3pm. Sunday Grand prix starts at 2pm. Highlights Channel 4 from 6.30pm on both days