Norris 'HATE' claim disproven by Verstappen gift

As Lando Norris arrived in Texas this week, he set a two-pronged tone of communication designed to set out the stall for McLaren’s approach to the final six races of the 2024 Formula 1 season.

First, the Brit claimed that no matter what happens in the title race between him and rival Max Verstappen, this season has been an enormously successful one for the team.

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Furthermore, he insisted in an interview with The Athletic that his reputation for lacking ruthlessness out on track is undeserved, declaring he 'hates everyone' once he puts on his helmet and takes to the circuit.

The comments served two purposes. On one hand Norris was taking the pressure off the team, trying to make clear that their unexpected ascent to the front of the field is progress enough for now. And on the other hand, he was emphasising his own determination to compete as strongly as possible.

It was reasonable to expect, then, that Norris and McLaren would look to harness that mixture of liberation and fortitude by driving smartly, acting decisively, and putting the maximum amount of pressure on Verstappen and Red Bull.

That assumption was incorrect. Instead, Norris and McLaren concocted yet another series of meek errors throughout the race which gifted Verstappen an increased advantage in the title race by the time the chequered flag fell.

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What did Lando Norris and McLaren get wrong?

Starting from pole in Austin, aided to a degree by a fortunate yellow flag caused by compatriot George Russell at the end of Saturday’s qualifying session, Norris had a stellar opportunity to reduce the deficit at the top of the standings.

But, having done so on so many occasions this season, the 24-year-old managed Turn 1 atrociously from pole position. Having launched the car relatively well off the grid, he positioned his MCL38 woefully, running wide around the outside and rejoining a lowly fourth behind both Ferraris and with Verstappen sandwiched between them.

This was far from a demonstration of the hatred Norris had promised to demonstrate. Instead, he very politely left a car’s width of space down the inside which a driver as aggressive as Verstappen was always going to exploit. Where the door could and should have been closed it was instead left ajar enough for the burglar to make it through and steal what he wanted.

This was a bizarrely courteous, diffident approach to fighting for a world championship that demonstrated a harsh truth - as genuine a battle this may be, owing to Red Bull’s drop off in performance and McLaren’s stunning development progress, Verstappen continues to race on a different level to Norris as a driver, and the latter is losing the battle of outright talent.

Having settled into fourth place, Norris was then able to harness the McLaren’s lightness on its tyres to extend his first stint and build up a tyre delta over Verstappen on the hard rubber in the second. That brought him onto the gearbox of the Red Bull with a quarter of the race remaining, and with a speed advantage on his side, an overtake seemed inevitable.

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How big an opportunity have McLaren thrown away?

Instead, Norris toiled behind Verstappen lap after lap, unable to stitch together a run which combined following closely enough through the first sector with gaining enough traction out of Turn 11. Every time it seemed like Norris was about to try and make the move, he ran out of tarmac on the back straight as Verstappen positioned his car pristinely to defend.

When he finally did close the gap enough to make an attempt around the outside on entry to Turn 12, he drove way beyond the limits of the track to seal the move and was served with a five-second penalty before the end of the race, dropping him back into fourth behind Verstappen.

Norris believed that Verstappen was at fault both at the start and in the latter stages. "He clearly pushed me out - he had no intention of making the corner," he claimed over team radio, before adding after the race: "It’s obviously not an easy decision [for the stewards] otherwise it would have come a bit sooner. I tried."

The reality is that Norris made a big error once again at the start, and his car was then significantly faster on the fresher rubber - as demonstrated by the four seconds he quickly pulled out over Verstappen after making the illegal overtake - and he should have been able to make a move stick without needing to go off circuit.

But the incident also demonstrated the lack of maturity of this McLaren team out front. They may have delivered a spellbinding series of upgrades which have taken their machinery from upper midfield runner to genuine pace setter, but their approach to strategy has often been error-strewn, and has cost them a serious glut of points.

The same happened here. It was evidently clear as soon as the pass was made, given the decisions already made by the stewards during the rest of the race, that Norris was going to be given a penalty.

But rather than acknowledging that, dropping Norris back behind Verstappen and telling him to attack again on the faster tyres, they hung their driver out to dry before insisting no penalty would come.

"My view is that the way the stewards interfered with a beautiful piece of motorsport was inappropriate," McLaren team principal Andrea Stella affirmed. "It’s a shame because it cost us a podium in a race where we were patient."

As thrilling as the fight between the pair was, having it determined by an illegal overtake would have been the most sullying outcome of all.

For all the talk of aggression and a lack of pressure, Norris and McLaren have instead seen their championship hopes wilt thanks to the docile and nervous nature which continues to cost them.

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