Mark Hughes: Why Lando Norris and McLaren must learn to work together

Could Lando Norris actually win this world championship? That was the buzz around the paddock after the McLaren driver had delivered his resounding victory in Zandvoort. It looks extremely unlikely mathematically. Even if he were to beat Verstappen into second in every remaining race and sprint race, he’d only be six points clear at the end. McLaren’s chances in the constructors’ championship look much more realistic.

But the fact that the question is even being asked reflects a remarkable turnaround in the competitive order since the beginning of the season when Max Verstappen continued his dominance of 2023.

“We even talked and looked at what Vettel did in 2013,” said team boss Andrea Stella after his driver’s victory, “and we said we may do the same, why not? We need to keep the focus, we need to think this is possible. But at the same time this win comes at a track that seems to be just very suitable for our car, like Hungary was.”

“This feels like a mutual growth period for all concerned at McLaren”

The self-critical Norris has said that he has not been doing the job of a world champion, in reference to some of the lost winning opportunities. Stella recently put this into perspective. “He tends to look at the half-empty part of the glass. He definitely has the potential of a world champion, and he’s performing at world championship level. If we compare against perfection, then we have opportunities. But I like that we compare ourselves against perfection, because this is what we need to do. I’ve been very encouraged that every little opportunity has been analysed in detail. Lando has been open and transparent, like he does with the public, and with the team, and we are together trying to nail and polish all the possible situations in which we need to be better.”

Ever since McLaren switched on its MCL38 with its big update in Miami in May, we’ve had a properly competitive season. Since Norris’s breakthrough win there, we’ve gone to each race knowing there’s likely to be a contest. Yet Norris has not been able to fully capitalise on his car’s performance. In fact, his points deficit to Verstappen has actually grown since the Miami victory; it was then 53 and after his Zandvoort win stood at 70. Pinpointing why is not straightforward. There isn’t a unifying theme. But there are some patterns.

Imola was a straightforward defeat at the hands of Verstappen, who was decisively faster in qualifying. The McLaren had better late-stint pace, allowing Norris to pressure Verstappen hard near the end but the position Verstappen’s pole had bought on a track where passing is difficult was decisive. Monaco, both were eclipsed by Charles Leclerc. Norris should have taken fuller advantage of Red Bull’s difficulties there which restricted Verstappen to sixth place, two behind Norris. Oscar Piastri in the other McLaren was a solid second, after all.

Canada was the first Norris win which got away. The blame has to be shared between him and the team. Leading the race in mixed conditions, there was enough time for him to respond to the safety car by pitting, but he failed to do so. Red Bull and Verstappen were far sharper and duly beat Norris to the flag. Spain was lost to Verstappen at the start after setting pole. Austria was all about their infamous collision, fighting for the win with a few laps to go. The incident fell squarely on Verstappen’s shoulders but Norris was less feisty in battle than he might have been. Silverstone was another which got away, Norris and his engineer indecisive around the crucial time of the switch from inters to slicks when leading and duly doubly punished. Around Hungary the McLarens had the legs of everyone but Norris from pole effectively lost the race to team-mate Piastri in the opening seconds – a similar story to Barcelona. Then Spa, on a day when McLaren was competitive with Mercedes and where Verstappen was taking a grid penalty. Norris messed up Turn 1 and was beaten to fourth by Verstappen.

McLaren is not yet as operationally sharp as Red Bull. The driver plays a small but significant role in that – and Norris’s audibly emotional state of mind in moments of stress contribute to the problem. By the same token, the team’s lack of slickness and surety play their part in generating that emotion in him.

Piastri has coolness in spades. But he doesn’t yet have Norris’s consistency of pace. They are pushing each other to very high levels, straying into territory they might otherwise be unaware of if the other wasn’t there. In snatching pole from Verstappen at Barcelona Norris dug deep and committed to taking the two fast corners flat. He afterwards reflected that part of the confidence needed to do that was derived from observing some of the things Piastri was able to do through such corners.

It’s a journey that they and the team are on together. While Norris is taking the brunt of the criticism, this feels like a mutual growth period for all concerned. Stella is walking this journey with them. This is his first time too. It’s giving him an empathy with his drivers as they seek to put the winning pieces in place.

Let the last word on Norris’s potential title calibre come from the world champion. “Lando is very, very fast, that’s the most important thing,” summarises Verstappen. “It will all get better with experience. I’ve been fighting for championships for longer so I’m a bit more experienced. At the end of the day if the team is working well, the car is working well and you’re driving well it all just comes to you. I never doubted that about Lando.”

Since he began covering grand prix racing in 2000, Mark Hughes has forged a reputation as the finest Formula 1 analyst of his generation
Follow Mark on Twitter @SportmphMark