Lando Norris inquest begins as Guenther Steiner airs ‘not fantastic’ F1 2024 theory

McLaren driver Lando Norris only needed to perform at an average level and minimise mistakes to beat Max Verstappen to the F1 2024 title.

That is the view of former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner, who believes Norris‘s errors have ultimately cost him against Red Bull’s reigning World Champion.

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Verstappen took a giant leap towards the F1 2024 title at last weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix, where he recovered from 17th on the grid to claim arguably the best victory of his career.

The Dutch driver holds a 62-point lead over Norris ahead of the final three races in Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi and is poised to become only the second driver in F1 history after Red Bull icon Sebastian Vettel to win his first four World Championships in successive years.

Norris cut a frustrated figure at the end of the race in Sao Paulo, having fallen from pole position to sixth at the chequered flag.

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Despite having the fastest car at his disposal for much of F1 2024, Norris has failed to make consistent inroads into Verstappen’s points advantage, winning just three times in Miami, the Netherlands and Singapore.

Norris’s temperament has also come under scrutiny after a series of poor starts, with Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko recently referencing the 24-year-old’s perceived “mental weaknesses.”

Appearing on the Red Flags podcast, Steiner claimed that with McLaren the class of the field, Norris only needed to be “just neutral” – performing at a consistently good level and having a low error rate – to beat Verstappen to the World Championship this year.

Asked if Brazil proved that Norris is not yet ready to become World Champion, he said: “You could see that.

“Let’s go back to Austin. What Max did, he took a chance and did what he did. Lando got the penalty.

“And then in Mexico,  Max came back and did the same thing again because he just pushes the envelope and Lando doesn’t. I think that is the difference between the two of them.

“In theory, Lando should win the races. He should nail the start. If he would have nailed every start – if, there’s a big if in there – then he will be the champion.

“But I always thought the car would make it up for him.

“And even with Max being the better racer, but because the McLaren at this moment is the better car if Lando was just neutral – not being fantastic but also not making mistakes – he [could have] won the championship. But obviously, now he cannot anymore.

“If Max gets an opportunity, he takes it all the time. What he did in Austin was challenging Lando, putting him in [a position] to make his mistake.

“Obviously the stewards helped in doing that one, because if they would have fined [Verstappen] there, he wouldn’t have done what he did to Mexico.”

Having been criticised for recent incidents with Norris in Austin and Mexico, Steiner feels Verstappen “wanted to make a point” after seizing the lead from Alpine driver Esteban Ocon in Brazil, after which he reeled off a stunning series of fastest laps to eventually win by 19.4 seconds.

He said: “I think the legendary moment was when Max took control of the race, when he overtook Ocon and just went.

“There was nothing anymore for anybody. It was like showing who you are.

“Obviously he didn’t have to do it. I think he was enjoying himself. It was all going well.

“In that moment, he knew he’s going to win the World Championship, so he wanted to make a point.”

Asked if Verstappen’s showcase of strength would have been demoralising for his competitors, Steiner argued that it should inspire the likes of Norris to get the better of the Red Bull driver next time.

He added: “We have all been competitors.

“It’s not demoralising.  Some people strive for that, they want to get there.

“It’s one of these things that in the moment is hard to take because somebody shows you: ‘This is who I am.’

“But then he could build those up and say: ‘Next time I’m going to beat you.'”

Put to him that Verstappen’s rivals will be studying onboard footage to understand why the Red Bull man was so dominant, he added: “Oh, yeah. Absolutely, absolutely.

“They analyse everything, everything will be analysed: how did he do it? Because that is the way you learn it, how to get there yourself.

“You cannot ignore it, you need to look at it.

“The drivers watch it to see the line, how they do things and how to get there – because if you understand how they go there, that’s the only way that you can learn it, because you haven’t got the chance if you’re sitting there [wondering]: ‘How did he do this?’

“The only way to understand it [is to watch]. There’s so much information there that you just go through it.”

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