12 hours ago
- Automotive
- The Independent
Lando Norris has completely lost his mojo – McLaren F1 star needs quick fix to downward spiral
On the McLaren pit wall, situated at the end of the home straight in Montreal, they'd have literally felt the shudders and vibrations. The moment their two drivers and championship contenders collided and the moment the ill-titled 'papaya rules' first creaked, in a manner only a crash at 200mph can do.
The post-mortem was actually very prompt and concise. Oscar Piastri, to the relief of the entire team, was unimpacted. He finished fourth, to conclude a damage limitation weekend. Team principal Andrea Stella put the incident simply down to a 'miscalculation.' And Lando Norris, in a matter of seconds, took full blame for driving up the back of his teammate, cutting short his race and costing him 10 points in the title fight.
To an extent, Norris should be applauded for how rapidly he took full accountability for a crash he labelled as 'stupid.' The Briton was in the wrong, eyeing a non-existent gap down the inside, with a collision unavoidable. He immediately apologised to Piastri in the media pen, too. The antithesis of Max Verstappen, there was no intra-team feud to see here. All is well.
Except, all is not well. With Norris, in particular. Why? Well, the Bristolian has completely lost his mojo.
If this was an isolated incident, it'd be easier to move on. But the 25-year-old has, with two anomalies, endured a torrid first three months of the season. A season in which he started out as the favourite, armed with the fastest car. And if he can't find an antidote quickly, a maiden world title looks set to run away from him, both on the track and on the leaderboard.
The mistakes have been plentiful. Errors on his final laps in Q3, the top-10 grid-setting phase of qualifying, have been an all too common occurrence, costing him pole positions in China, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. He inexplicably crashed out in Jeddah, forcing a recovery drive the next day from tenth to fourth.
His form, bar Monaco, did not improve as F1 returned to Europe. The Q3 errors continued in Imola and Barcelona, putting him on the back foot while Piastri enjoyed clean air and dominated out in front. Canada also showed the continuation of a worrying trend.
Norris was quickest in the final practice session and, with Piastri struggling around the unique street circuit, pole seemed well within his grasp. Yet while the Mercedes of George Russell put together a perfect lap, Norris faltered twice: missing the final chicane on his first lap and clipping the wall on his second attempt.
You have to wonder how the finale to his first title voyage last year – up against the unrufflable force of Verstappen – has impacted him. The drivers' championship was well within reach in 2024, as McLaren stormed to the front of the pack. Last year, however, it was a weakness at the start which curtailed his challenge. From eight pole positions last year, Norris failed to lead after the first lap in seven of them.
It's not rocket science. You cannot win a F1 world championship with such glaringly crushing statistics.
But, more distressingly this year, is the way in which Norris's endearing and cheeky persona seems to have departed. The driver a whole fanbase fell in love with, with his genuinely amusing Drive to Survive snippets, has been replaced with a driver whose continual knack of self-deprecating quotes is somewhat excruciating to listen to.
Post-qualifying in Canada, it was 'I just made too many mistakes', while on Sunday it was even more stark.
'When I let them [McLaren] down like this and make a fool of myself like I did today, I have a lot of regret,' he said.
'I'm not proud of myself, I feel bad, so apologies to all of them… I've let down the team and that's going to stay with me for a little while.'
Even in customary press sessions with the media – granted, the drivers do a lot of them – Norris seems increasingly unengaged. A man going through the motions, his eyes often wander to the golf on the screens in the McLaren motorhome. Even with weekly interviewer Rachel Brookes for Sky Sports, Norris can barely raise a smile at the moment. This is not the charming, affable man we all know.
Nico Rosberg, brilliant again on punditry duties for Sky with his knowledge and eye for detail, believes it is time Norris employed a mental coach.
'He [Lando] needs to work on the mental side', 2016 world champion Rosberg said at the last race in Spain. 'We all work hours and hours training our bodies… does he work with a psychologist or not? He definitely should because there's so much value in that.'
This is not a new area of expertise in professional sports. The likes of Ronnie O'Sullivan, Steven Gerrard and Chris Hoy have worked with well-respected sports psychologist Dr Steve Peters. Even Rosberg himself, amid the heightened tension of his intra-team title battle with Lewis Hamilton in 2016, used a mental coach. Rosberg has even sent a message to Norris on Instagram with the suggestion. No reply was forthcoming.
'I worked with one, just to understand the best possible approach,' Rosberg added. 'I did two hours every two days leading up to the season. It was more difficult than the physical training, it was insanely difficult and extremely valuable.'
Rosberg also went into further detail in Montreal regarding Norris's continuous self-deprecatory manner. 'If you say every day 'I'm not good enough', at some point you'll believe it,' he said.
'I would strongly recommend he reduces that [negative comments], not always the negative.'
Of course, none of us know the full detail of what is happening behind closed doors and in between the ears. It should be stated that there have been flashes of Norris's brilliance behind the wheel this year: those two anomalies coming at the season-opener in Australia and around the streets of Monaco. Two sumptuous pole positions were converted supremely to two victories. The talent and skill are still present.
And it's also worth mentioning that the situation is not yet disastrous. The gap at the top is only 22 points. If Norris wins the next race in Austria and Piastri is forced to retire, the Brit would be back on top. Plenty can change and swing over the next 14 races and six months.
But Norris's downward spiral is alarming. Piastri has received plaudits for his coolness and composure under pressure. Across the garage, his teammate is struggling to cope with the pressure and intensity of 'his year'. McLaren CEO Zak Brown is Norris's biggest backer, and perhaps he can conjure a remedy. Because, right now, a quick fix is required to bring him back into contention.
