Lando Norris’ Radio Shows McLaren Not Ready To Become Champions | Relief
McLaren to win Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship in 2024. After Zandvoort, the gap between Papaya and still-leading Red Bull was down to 30 points. It may take two, three, four… races to complete the upset, but it will happen. It seems impossible to think that the plot will take another Miami-like twist and that any other team will beat him on pace. In Holland, Lando Norris was 20 seconds behind Max Verstappen. The lady who strikes.
The problem is that We compare Norris to Verstappen, not to Piastri. They had everything they needed to complete the 1-2 contract they had already signed in Hungary. Your car is simply the fastestand when the situation is such a superiority, the dream of taking the first two boxes on the podium becomes rather unrealizable obligation. They were affected by a poor start, apparently due to a clutch failure that affected both cars and forced Norris to give up pole at the first corner, with Piastri overtaking Russell a few meters later. The Australian was back on the podium, but was unable to get past the giant Charles Leclerc. He lacked the skills, which is normal for a talented driver, but it is worth remembering that he is already in his second year in this category.
His team has the most experience, with eight constructors’ titles under their belt. They haven’t been crowned since 1998, but it’s said that the one who has has. The champion mentality usually doesn’t go away, although cases like Ferrari’s also disprove that theory. Several gestures from last season suggest that Mclaren It has also lost its aroma over the decades..
“What position do you think we are fighting for?”
The last one is the radio, which is grotesque for many. In the midst of Norris’s pursuit of Verstappen to regain the lead in the opening laps, the Briton’s radio switched on and the following sounded: “What position do you think we are fighting for?”. This phrase is repeated many times, but in the other direction. It is logical that a pilot oriented to moving at a speed of more than 300 km/h, without losing control of the ship and doing it with the greatest possible dexterity, asks the garage for its objective opinion on the situation. On the contrary, not so much. Outsiders have to make strategic decisions to make life easier for the driver who is looking only forward and always wants to climb another position. Moreover, the fastest car on the track is in the DRS zone, and the closest pursuer is about five seconds behind. The solution is clear: the attack, which Norris passed without thinking.
McLaren lack authority, as they had already demonstrated in Hungary. In the eyes of the world they were about to throw away their chance to get the most points, and Norris’s good heart spared the next day’s headlines about “internal war”. With Budapest fresh in mind Zak Brown continues to claim that his pilots have “clearance to fight.”. This is fair, but also risky if they don’t clean up certain situations.
Piastri lost most of his chances of a podium finish due to the undercut of Charles Leclerc, who was stuck in the gearbox for many laps, unable to overtake him, and decided to go through the pits in search of a strategic advantage. He found it because the team decided that Oscar’s degradation was very good and they knew that at the end of the race they would have an advantage in tyre wear. But after the stop, the Australian rejoined the track behind George Russell (whom he easily passed for a few seconds and finally overtook) and Leclerc. So, Stop also in stop management.
There might not be so many of them, but McLaren could have scored a few more points at Zandvoort, but they didn’t.. They ruled with an iron fist all weekend, showing that they are the fastest (everyone on the grid knows this and has no problem verbalising it in interviews) and that with the current performance gap, it will be very difficult to take away their wins. . The only way is to take advantage of their mistakes (of which there are plenty). It feels like the Netherlands just won the race and haven’t yet learned to be solid champions..