Lando Norris admits he has made “a few too many mistakes” over recent rounds and intends to work on improving on over Formula 1’s summer break.
The McLaren driver sits second in the drivers’ championship during the summer shutdown on 199 points – 78 behind leader Max Verstappen.Despite having more podium finishes of any driver other than Verstappen this season, finishing on the rostrum eight times in the first 14 rounds, Norris has only claimed a single victory in May’s Miami Grand Prix.
Since then, Norris has started on the front row four times – including twice from pole in Spain and Hungary – but has finished second four times, including after handing the win of the Hungarian Grand Prix over to team mate Oscar Piastri under team orders.
Speaking with Sky, Norris said that he has improvements to make as a driver before he can think about challenging Max Verstappen for the world championship, either over the rest of this season or into 2025.
“I’ve got to work on myself and work on a few things first,” he said.
“I feel like I’ve had the car and I’ve got what I need around me. But I’ve made probably a few too many mistakes – I have made a few too many mistakes over the last month or so. I’ve lost opportunities. So I think I would like to do that.”
Having failed to convert either of his pole positions into the lead at the first corner, Norris admits that his race starts will be a particular focus for him into the final rounds of the season.
“It’s my starts,” he said. “Just some decision making, here and there.
“It’s small things that have had big, big consequences. A lot of stuff now in Formula 1, a small difference will have a big consequence because it’s so close. But I know that and I know I’ve got to work on my things and keep focussed. So that’s what I’ll use this summer break for – as much as it’s to disconnect, it’s to review a lot of things and make sure I come back stronger.”
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Leo B
2nd August 2024, 12:07
That’s a mean looking Lando in the photo. If only photos could give you points for the championship …
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
3rd August 2024, 15:35
Mercy is for the weak.
David BR (@david-br)
2nd August 2024, 13:30
My advice would be to stop talking about the mistakes and just stop making them.
notagrumpyfan
2nd August 2024, 13:43
One of the mistakes he’s making is constantly saying that he makes too many mistakes.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
2nd August 2024, 13:47
The whining self-pity routine is starting to cheese me off.
ben
2nd August 2024, 14:14
+1 he talks a lot for someone with only 1 win.
He’s had the best car (or on par with the RedBull) for the last 6+ events yet still only has a very fortunate safetycar win to his name.
Piastri is catching him on raw pace and tyre usage. Next year if Mclaren are in a genuine Championship hunt I’d be putting my money on him rather than Norris.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
3rd August 2024, 22:37
He’s asked a lot of questions for someone with 1 win. Downside of being a) Anglophone, b) reputed for unusual honest and c) particularly well-liked by Sky, which has a large amount of time between sessions it has to fill somehow.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
2nd August 2024, 14:15
@nullapax Whining self-pity routine? All I hear is an honest self-assessment. I find his lack of brashness refreshing.
David BR (@david-br)
2nd August 2024, 14:55
@ferrox-glideh I don’t think it’s self-pity, I do think it’s potentially a negative feedback cycle (negative thinking). Sharing that negative self-assessment also just encourages others, like the media, to remind you of your own mistakes. That’s why I suggested keeping quiet and not saying any more until the aim is achieved – in Lando’s case, competing for the WDC. Doesn’t matter if Verstappen still wins, as seems likely, but if Norris can get close, he’ll have moved on from the self-doubts. Leclerc is similarly self-critical. Even Hamilton to some extent – but as we learnt, he tends to keep those doubts to himself (like whether he’d ever win a race again).
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
2nd August 2024, 14:59
Refreshing self-assessment belongs in Hippy communes … not on a race track.
Timmy
2nd August 2024, 17:53
Unintelligent people interpret self-reflection as weakness…
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
3rd August 2024, 22:38
@nullapax Refreshing self-assessment is, these days, a prerequisite for being a successful racing driver. Max Verstappen squeezed into F1 just before that door closed, and would have become successful faster had he been more honest with himself.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
2nd August 2024, 21:39
@nullapax Hippy communes?- nice dog whistle there “nulla pax”, or should I say “No Peace”? Or “No honest peace?”, to make your latin teacher happy? Go back to the play ground. Adults actually look in the deep dark truthful mirror once in a while, and improve themselves by doing so.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
3rd August 2024, 2:03
It doesn’t annoy me that he admits he’s making too many mistakes (I like honesty), however I don’t like the fact he’s making so many mistakes and throwing wins away at the start and if he doesn’t improve in that metric I also see piastri as more of a title contender, if mclaren keeps having a good car next years, and that’s as someone who was very doubtful of piastri after his first season, and even though norris is still generally faster for now.
Timmy
2nd August 2024, 17:51
Well damn man, stop posting in comments sections and contact his agent immediately. You have the solution after all…
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
2nd August 2024, 13:54
You are easily one of the best drivers on the grid Lando, and you now have a damn fine car.
Just do your best and stop excusing yourself.
Develop a bit of the Max, Fernando type self belief … or you just might end up being the next Checo :(
David BR (@david-br)
2nd August 2024, 15:02
@nullapax His main errors seem to be race starts and they’re all about ‘instantly’ (intuitively) making the right decisions in terms of where to place the car in relation to all the other cars nearby. Thinking too much doesn’t help. It’s like Norris focuses on one issue, already in his head as the lights are going out, and so misses what’s actually happening down to the first corner.
David BR (@david-br)
2nd August 2024, 15:06
– I mean, given he was a karting and racing champion over many years before F1, he presumably knows how to do this stuff instinctively.
Edvaldo
2nd August 2024, 15:50
And that’s the reason i think it’s silly to blame Mclaren for having the cars inverted in Hungary.
He’s has not been worth of the headache they would have doing that, both on the media and with their other driver.
If he had given any hint of being a solid winner, capable of winning multiple races and rapidly erasing Max’s points gap, it would be fair to play it in his favour, but he never did show any sign of that this year.
Mayrton
2nd August 2024, 16:17
Good that you brought that up. What we are seeing now is the effect the team’s call had on him. And simultaneously they managed to deprive Piastri from a proper first win. McLaren as a team has a long way to go.
Edvaldo
2nd August 2024, 16:26
There was just one event after that. It’s too early to say anything.
Norris has been making mistakes and being honest about it long before Hungary.
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
2nd August 2024, 16:15
I think Norris is a little hard on himself – he’s made mistakes, but this is a new environment for him and the team.
Ultimately I think we’ve been spoiled by Hamilton and Verstappen’s quality. Charles made fewer but more consequential errors in 2022, Vettel was appalling in 2018 – his title in 2010 was untidy too. Alonso’s 2007 had plenty of errors, Hakkinen had a messy 1999 etc etc
Other than the all time greats, and even including them, many drivers have made mistakes graduating from strong midfielder to championship challenger. Mistakes happen to humans competing on the edge, even if you’ve won multiple titles – he needs to accept that and move on. For me it seems like fear of mistakes is causing mistakes, for example the caution at the starts is costing him more than ever. He should use this summer break to better understand his weaknesses, one of which is telling the media about every error whether it’s obvious or not.
Biggsy
2nd August 2024, 19:25
@rbalonso
The thing is, Schumacher or Alonso would have made a serious WDC bid out of this season, while he is still talking about this golden opportunity as if it’s not really there. It seems he doesn’t think he is in a realistic fight for a WDC.
Reason why we saw Schumacher and Alonso figure in so many title showdowns, is because they understood that every point in every race matters and you build a WDC campaign by maximizing your opportunities, not by just rocking up to the first race of a season in a car that is 2 seconds faster than anything else.
On average, Alonso’s 2012 Ferrari must have been considerably slower than Lando’s current McLaren, and yet, he was the leading WDC contender through out the season. That car was pace-setter in pretty much just a couple of races, and even in those, it was not across the whole race weekend.
Same with Schumacher’s 1998 title bid. McLaren started similarly dominant to 2024 Red Bull, but Schumacher maximized his opportunities, and by the time McLaren was caught, he was already in the fight.
Lando just seems way off, and acting as if this isn’t a genuine WDC chance for him. As if it’s just some highly-unlikely outside bet. And if might become that if they don’t take it more seriously.
José Lopes da Silva
2nd August 2024, 22:19
+1.
Argentine Grand Prix 1998 was, for all those reasons, one of the most amazing Schumacher races, even if didn’t quite looked that way in the heat of the moment.
Norris 2024 reminds me of Vettel 2009. Could have applied more pressure on Button, if it wasn’t for some errors.
Nick T.
2nd August 2024, 23:30
Agreed, Biggsy. It’s not the end of the world to not be in the class of Schumacher or Alonso. You can still win a WDC. You just need more of an advantage to win. Once LH and FA are gone (and they’re both very old, especially FA, and while still amazing, past their best), the only driver of such class will be Max and who knows how long he’ll stick around. So, he should have plenty of chances to win.
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
3rd August 2024, 8:15
I take your point and I think Lando should be closer. But let’s not forget he was fighting for 17th 18 months ago, the rise has been meteoritic.
The point I was trying to make is comparisons to a Schumacher or Alonso is incredibly optimistic – we’re talking about 2 of the 3 generational talents pre Max, post Senna. Let’s not forget Michael would have won 2006 without the Monaco mistake, with 7 titles to his name. With different luck he could have lost 1994 and better decision-making won 1997. I totally agree Michael would have this current McLaren in the title hunt but he had his frailties too. Fernando in 2004 wasn’t title ready and made a few errors in 2005 notably Canada and by 2007 made numerous championship defining mistakes.
All the greats have a dip in their first few seasons and it’s normally when the pressure mounts and expectations change. I think his weakness is that he’s in his head too much and that he announces mistakes to the media – something Max, Michael and Fernando would never ever have done. I think that’s as much to do with the modern sportsman as much as Norris personally. Was the Hungarian GP start really that bad for example? The team orders decision was poor but that should have been spelled out to him on the pit wall to let Oscar by then attack him – of course that’s a failure but it’s understandable.
This was always going to be a building season for Norris but if he and the fans insist on perfection or comparisons to the greatest drivers we’ve ever seen, we’re setting him up to fail.
Pete
2nd August 2024, 18:50
He’s generally good from lap 2 onwards. It’s lap 1 where things are consistently falling apart. Instead of dominating races, he falls behind and then has to find a way to win from there.
If he gets on pole and retains his lead at the start, the rest will struggle to keep close to him.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
3rd August 2024, 2:12
Yes, even when the car wasn’t the best, like russia 2021, he was good enough to keep the best car behind, in the dry and in the wet, even by going off track with slick tyres but still keeping hamilton behind, the only problem that race was his and mclaren’s decision, which left him out on slicks tyres on a full wet track, but the driving was impeccable, in every condition.
And for an example of what he can do when the car is really good there’s miami this year, there was the SC mistake, but in the end at the restart he had verstappen right behind him and gained a bigger margin to the end than verstappen had at any point of the race.
dan
2nd August 2024, 20:55
Absoloute hilarious this guy in the Silverstone cool down room. Lando you are going against a 2 yr f1 driver mate he has won the same amount of races as you already. You have a go at Lewis, Lewis is more than matching and beating in races the guy who made you his whipping boy in F2. If Lewis was in the Mclaren we would have a world title fight.
It is absoloute criminal how Mercedes have 3 wins and Mclaren 2. Lando could easily and should have won like 4 races on the spin. If Hamilton started the season in the Mclaren he would be kneck and kneck with Max for the title. So all this “you had a quick car for 7 years” yeah Lando you have a quick car too and when Lewis did not have the outright fastest car 2017,2018,2021 he either won or made it a fight you are costing the fans a WC fight. There is absoloute no reason why Lewis should have more wins than you and Oscar the same amount of wins. Max must be laughing his you know what off the pressure must be way easier than 21. If i was Max i would say go all in for 25 Lando has not got it in him to win the WDC just yet.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
3rd August 2024, 2:15
This is exagerated, don’t forget mclaren was far, far worse than red bull early season, hamilton would have had to drive on average better than verstappen so far to be competing with him, and that’s not what I’ve seen early season, but I still would say he would be closer than norris; still I expect a sizeable gap to verstappen in those circumstances.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
3rd August 2024, 2:17
I agree regarding verstappen saying to go all in on the 2025 car, I don’t see who realistically could challenge him for this driver’s championship.
As for hamilton, he also had seasons with a quick car where he wasn’t fighting for the championship, like 2010 and 2012.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
3rd August 2024, 2:20
Also, 2017 mercedes was significantly the fastest car, 2018 they were neck and neck, 2021 again pretty close but if there was a fastest car it was merc, red bull didn’t have a rocketship at any point like merc did the last 4 races.
Bob
3rd August 2024, 10:56
Horner, And Neway Said Max Had The Fastest Car In 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnSEyT4oQMU
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
3rd August 2024, 15:49
of course they did. I believe they were leading until that spat of wins Hamilton had, and then they waited till the last race to clinch Max’s first championship. Almost like it was scripted. After that HAM was shown the door at Mercedes as Toto decided it was great to do something completely crazy in order to destroy the potential of the car, something that makes ZERO sense as anyone in business/engineering would know you don’t completely change your product, especially if it’s still if not the fastest, next to the fastest car out there.
Its almost like they were trying to write Hamilton out of the script, by letting Max win so many times. I sometimes think it was because he snubbed the posh elite at the awards gala, when HAM refused to take second place because of how Max was handed the win.
Ultimately, it’s all about doing what your told when there is that much money on the line, and they need people who will accept defeat in order to keep up appearances. 2021 – 2022 really looked like F1 decided to discard HAM, but he stuck it out, and after he decided to leave the team, they decided to make their car better again. Go figure. Hopefully Ferrari are serious about winning, and they will let Charles and HAM race fairly.
And as for the HAM haters, it’s always been a pleasure watching that lot stew in their defeat.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
3rd August 2024, 15:38
McLaren are not favoring Lando, if they were he would have more wins, probably a couple more at least.
dan
2nd August 2024, 21:03
Max is Lewis and Lando is Vettel in the later Fer/Merc battles before Lec joined. It is embarassing how we have no WDC fight this year absoloute embarassing. And Lando only winning 1 race is pathetic even if i gave him Austria it would still be pathetic. Lando could have literally put streaks of wins together in the middle part. How you not win Austria Silverstone Hungary. Max should have a fight but Lando is showing he aint ready, no one can deny it either.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
3rd August 2024, 2:22
Yes, it reminds a bit of 2018 vettel, he should really get closer to verstappen in a season like this, hungary was due to the start, austria verstappen was to blame for the crash, silverstone he wasn’t assertive enough with the last tyre change, was also a bit the engineer’s fault, piastri’s engineer made the question much clearer.
dan
2nd August 2024, 21:05
Wish Merc went all in for Lando said we give you free engines and sign Alonso for 1 year im a Ham fan over Nando but with Stella and Alonso relationship would love Alonso to bow out with a title before 26. Although who even knows if Alonso had not lost abit of speed want he be beating a mug like Stroll by 30 secs every race?
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
3rd August 2024, 2:25
It’s definitely worrying that he’s not beating stroll by much nowadays, either his decline really began, or there’s some car development towards stroll’s preferences, so basically alonso is maybe being treated like a number 2.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
2nd August 2024, 21:47
To be fair to Lando, Oscar’s pre-F1 career is uniquely successful. He has the best team mate outside of established F1 champions on the grid.
Biggsy
3rd August 2024, 7:56
@ferrox-glideh
It’s not about what Oscar can do.
It’s about what Lando can’t do. And that is to maximize the points and the car potential. That is becoming obvious, since it’s a constant for almost third of the season so far.
slowmo (@slowmo)
5th August 2024, 0:27
Russell is arguably better than Piastri, as is Leclerc.