Lando’s Lost Chances And McLaren’s Race Day Errors
Lando Norris - Flying in Monza (2024)
Why and how are McLaren and Lando not maximising points?:
McLaren are seemingly throwing away the opportunity to help Lando Norris win his Maiden title. It comes as no surprise that the name Lando Norris is hot on the lips of every formula one fan given their meteoric gains within one season. Similar to last year albeit they were challenging for a podium and this year they are going for the win.
However, it’s not been as straightforward as it seems. The rhetoric within F1 community is – give a man the fastest car he will win the race. Even if it’s Narayan Karthikeyan or Nikita Mazapin. We are finding out, that is not the case. So let’s look into why McLaren and Lando are not maximising their points. The high level stats paint a picture that McLaren’s car is now the fastest but McLaren team principle Andrea Stella firmly believes the cars are equal with the drivers who find the most grip winning races. I modest man I see.
Qualifying position of leading car
Clear themes
There are clear themes with McLaren’s problems. Pitwall are indecisive and give their drivers way too much information and power to make decision leading to on track losses. And Lando is making silly mistakes to compound the problem.
Sochi 2021 – The first signs
Flashback to 2021 Sochi – Amazing race by the way. Where we saw the first glimpse of these themes. Lando has the lead and the gates in the clouds open. Impressively despite the changing conditions he holds of Lewis in a lesser car and we were all thinking – He’s got this! What happens next is something we have become all too familiar with.
Lando’s race Engineer Will Joseph starts asking him questions – How dare he?! Lando replies with a sharp and clear ‘no-shut up’ when asked if he wants to box for inters with increased rain expected. Contrast to the Mercedes cool and collected demeanour I almost felt like I could be a race engineer for McLaren and do a better job. Without going too off topic – Lando doesn’t box because the pitwall does not force him, the rain starts lashing down. My degree in engineering comes in handy here: Worn out slicks x Extremely wet track = no grip (who would have guessed). Lando finishes so far back he might as well have not started. What was even funnier than the McLaren debacle was Lewis Hamilton’s shocked reaction to seeing Max park alongside him in park ferme in P2 having started dead last!
If this happened at Mercedes or RedBull – I could bet my house it would not happen again because they have a killer instinct. Yet here we are and it is happening again. This team is no stranger to the front of the grid mind you which makes this all the more surprising – albeit Ron Dennis is not part of the team anymore.
Silverstone 2024
Lando Norris navigating the wet conditions in Silverstone - 2024
Returning to present day, McLaren and Lando made the same mistake. Lando did a brilliant job navigating the tricky conditions going from dry to wet to overtake the Mercedes and build a tidy gap. When the race transitioned from wet to dry the pitwall gave Lando the option as to which tyre to select. Crucial mistake. A single minded driver who wants to win hears his closest contender is on softs and asks the team to slap the same compound on. Crucially he says ‘any soft tyre’ I don’t think the team caught that. He get’s undercut by Lewis, doesn’t gently bring his tyres into their operating window in the haste to catch Lewis and ultimately – he loses out to Max when his softs lost grip thus binning an easy win and finishing P3. This was an extremely avoidable mistake if the team told Lando – You’re on the medium compound tyres. Get on with it.
Killer instinct:
I’ve see jokes about how Lando doesn’t have a killer instinct letting his ‘mate’ Max cruise by in races gone by but Lewis ‘Sochi’ Hamilton get’s the rough treatment a-la Texas 2023. Lando lacks the cut through killer instinct it takes to win the title. I will be honest I don’t know if it can be cultivated. Champions like Lewis, Shumi, Vettel and Max were born with it and exuded that trait from day 1. Never afraid to make the tough call to win. I have only seen one person cultivate that mentality and that is Nico Rosberg the man who beat Lewis in equal machinery, however. He wanted it bad enough and he basically sacrificed everything to attain it leading to an early retirement. Can Lando do the same?
Looking at Hungary 2024 - Lando should have disobeyed team orders and taken the win and thus extracting maximum points especially given Max’s results. He could have pulled a multi 2-1 and made an excuse on track and later owned up to it like Vettel and if anything we would have all applauded him. I do appreciate the pit wall were doing everything in their power besides take his mother hostage to convince him to give the position to Oscar. Which led to the infamous phrase ‘You will need Oscar’s help to win the title’. Leading to my next point:
Unisex Tee, Papaya Rules. Click on the image to learn buy
Losing the lead:
Lando has pole in Monza and like we probably all predicted had a bad start and invited Oscar to take the lead. And like that shark from Finding Nemo, Oscar had a sniff of blood and forgot what Papaya rules actually means. This silly gimmick of a name for what is basically team orders has convinced me McLaren issued team orders in Hungary to remain a likeable and more importantly a marketable outfit. I digress, we know the rest – an uninspiring finish leads to Charles winning the race – who cares (I hope the sarcasm is very clear here).
Winning the drivers championship:
Before concluding on the actual topic at hand I would like to quickly shift your attention towards Charles Leclerc who is flying very quietly under the radar. Charles is 24 points from Lando, who himself is 58 points from Max. Therefore if we all think Lando can win it – then so can Charles.
Good friends Lando and Charles in the paddock in Monza - 2024
So – Lando Norris. Can he win the title?
Unless something dramatic is taking place at the time of writing this article in the two week break between Monza and Baku – I highly doubt Lando and Charles will pip Max to the title and here is why I have come to that conclusion.
Firstly, I expect more mistakes from Lando. Again – unless he’s working on it as we speak before Baku. I fully expect him to keep getting pole and equally anticipate he will give it away.
Secondly – even if Lando overcomes this barrier the pitwall is shambolic at McLaren. You cannot operate at the front of the grid and not learn from mistakes. If they keep overloading the drivers with strategy information the team will not progress. Lando is best when allowed to think about the track only – just give him the tools I say.
Thirdly – I don’t think the team actually believe he can. Not in a ‘he’s not good enough kind of way’ but simply the points deficit. McLaren’s priority is the constructors championship. If McLaren actually thought he could win the title – Hungary would be a no brainer, Lando get’s P1 simple as that. But they keep letting the drivers Papaya each other (is that the correct usage?) and they’re hurting Lando in the process. We can look down on Vettel, Shumi and Lewis benefiting from team orders but the reality is. If you want to win, you make the tough call!
Finally – Max is too good. I don’t know if toto unplugged something on the RB to help convince Max to join Mercedes but that car has had a mighty fall off. Max has dragged that car kicking and literally screaming into podiums and kept it in the points. I think it will be a bit tight but as long as Max does not DNF he will retain a well deserved title. This year really reminds me of the year Braun won and I expect it to play out the same for Max.
Donuts for Champions - Max in Abu Dhabi
