Lando Norris Faces Crucial Challenge in Hungary's Heat
Jul.21 - Lando Norris is trying to play down the mounting pressure on his shoulders to start racking up grand prix wins.
Amid McLaren's resurgent pace at present, the 24-year-old has established himself as consistently quicker than his impressive younger teammate Oscar Piastri this year.
But despite breaking through for his maiden win in Miami, Norris has often had the fastest car ever since - and failed to secure a second victory.
Heading into Hungary, some observers said they thought the British driver was perhaps 'too nice' to win.
"I can be a lot more of a d*ck and act like an idiot and have that persona and make people think that," Norris told reporters on Thursday, "but I don't need to and I don't want to.
"When I put the helmet on, I don't hear what people say."
Norris is back on pole - the third of his career - at the Hungaroring, but it's still within memory of his recent home British GP, which he and McLaren should have won.
"There are some rumours starting to come from the owners of the McLaren Group from the Middle East, wondering why there has only been just one victory," former Red Bull driver Robert Doornbos told Ziggo Sport on Saturday.
"They've definitely had more chances than that."
So is Sunday a 'must win' for Norris?
"I mean, I don't think so," he hit back. "Every quali is important. Every race is important. So it's not all of a sudden I need to do it and I need to prove my point.
"I know we've missed out on some, but we don't need to get back into all that."
McLaren boss Andrea Stella also sounds like he's trying to lift the pressure off the team and Norris' shoulders.
"Max Verstappen is still the driver to beat," he told DAZN after qualifying on Saturday. "He has dominated F1 in recent seasons and we are in a good position now to challenge him.
"We have two drivers ahead of Max now so we can play with him from a strategic point of view, but there are also two Ferraris and a Mercedes behind us and things can change quite a bit," Stella added.
As for the missed opportunities for both McLaren and Norris recently, he answered: "We could have done things better, but highlighting McLaren's mistakes would be looking at things from the wrong angle.
"The achievements are incredible and if we have a missed opportunity it is a moment to learn," Stella added.
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To say "Amid McLaren's resurgent pace at present, the 24-year-old has established himself as consistently quicker than his impressive younger teammate Oscar Piastri this year." is a bit unfair on Oscar. Lando is in his 7th season of F1 with McLaren, while Oscar is in his 2nd season of F1. Clearly, Oscar is an up and coming champion of the future who is showing great potential.
Oscar is advised well by Mark Webber and shows great respect for his team and Lando. Oscar is a real team player, which can't be said for everyone on the grid!
Well said. Oscar appears to be the real deal, emotionally balanced and a strong (and fair) nerve. Easy to see him as a future world champ.
Yeah oscars a great talent,team player.landos turning into a cross between shamilton and georgy a diva
Reminded me of Damon and Ralphina at Spa
,what a reviting comp this year,i used to fast forward,on replays,being in nz ,but cant ,of late Lando did the right thing for team, admire redbulls car's, but would max v,in same situation, play to team request!?
Lando should not have been put in that position and Oscar should not have accepted to win that way.oh for the old days when recers raced each other and the result wasnt decided on the pit wall.i feel sorry for the people who pay to go and watch f1.i am seriously considering cancelling my contract and I've followed f1 since the early 80s
Thank goodness Verstappen has some real competition at last, now we will see how good he really is. In terms of attitude Lando is already a mile ahead. I suspect the Verstappens mental attitude is incurable, Lando will need to be prepared to walk away from his friendship sooner or later.
They both have tempers. They both want to win. LN suffers from a bit of immaturity, lets his emotions get in the way of good judgment. Max, unfortunately, was raised with an attitude that only winning matters, if you aren’t first, you are a loser, that is ingrained in him. Only time will tell who will overcome their shortcomings. Sad. Both are talented drivers.
LN’s racecraft can be a bit off sometimes. Difficult to understand his move to the right at the start to squeeze teammate OP and thereby leave MV with a clear run to the corner. I expect it’s a learning curve and hope he continues to improve.
In Quali , Max was what a tenth of a second away..!, Rb arent falling apart, yes the pack are there,but its Maxes title make no mistake
A tenth of a second away, he finished 5th and blamed everyone in his team except himself. It wasn’t him that went off track or him that hit Hamilton and cost him two places then?
Yeah your right Max is finished, Lando for WDC 2024, see I can talk bollox too
We’ve all known that for a long time, you didn’t need to remind us.🤡