Ex-F1 team boss SLAMS ‘naive’ Lando Norris over failed title bid against Max Verstappen
Former Haas boss Guenther Steiner slammed Lando Norris for being too naive in his fight for the 2024 drivers' title with Max Verstappen.
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Max Verstappen and Lando Norris (via Planetf1)
Mid-way through the 2024 season, Lando Norris realized that he had a genuine shot at winning his maiden drivers’ title against Max Verstappen. However, his dream did not come to fruition as he lost out on major opportunities every few race weekends, leading ex-F1 team boss Guenther Steiner to call out the Briton’s naive approach that failed him.
Max Verstappen won seven races in the first half of the 2024 season but soon started losing ground in the championship as the Red Bull started tripping over itself. This gave Lando Norris the best chance to have a go at the championship, which required him to outscore the Dutchman by eight points every race weekend till the season finale.
Though he was able to achieve this target at a few race weekends, a mistake would often creep up on him and hold him back from further gaining ground in the championship. A prime example of this would be the Brazilian GP weekend, where the reigning champion was slated to lose points to him, but ended up winning the race dominantly.
This subsequently led Guenther Steiner to condemn Norris’ decisions over the years that ended up costing him his maiden title.
He was a little bit naive going racing, like, ‘this will be all good’. No, nothing will be good because Max will be fighting. Max fights you to death to win something.
Guenther Steiner said (via Red Flags Podcast)
Moreover, this year’s championship would have taught the 25-year-old a lesson. Norris would utilize the experience that he would have gained in his fight against Verstappen next year to finally have a proper go at the title and not bottle his chances.
Oscar Piastri could spoil Lando Norris’ plans for the next season
While Norris was given preferential treatment in intra-team dynamics after the summer break, Oscar Piastri was not ready to easily let go of the chances that he was presented with. The Aussie won two races this year, out of which the Hungarian GP sparks up people’s minds regarding where Piastri took away points from his senior teammate.
Furthermore, this was looked up by Steiner, who asserted how Piastri would not sit back if he would have a championship-winning car in his arsenal.
We need to see where this goes. But what is for sure, that Oscar Piastri in the same car will not be sitting there waiting, that Lando wins a world championship.
Guenther Steiner said (via Red Flags Podcast)
Thus, Norris would have to fight off an extra rival in the form of his teammate. To which, he would have to use clean racing tactics that would not cost the team any points in the constructors’ championship.
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Geetansh Pasricha
(742 Articles Published)