It’s now or never for Lando Norris after a litany of mistakes. He has 10 races to prove he…


If Lando Norris can’t show himself to be of world championship standard over the 10 races remaining of this season, the fear is that he never will.

You might even say that’s a generous assessment, given the evidence so far. Yes, the Briton drove beautifully to push his glass-cut nose into the fray behind the machine called Max Verstappen.

But then it got hot, and Norris got cold.

Mistakes after mistake followed – usually, but not confined to, appalling starts. The errors betrayed a nervousness in the whitest heat of elite sport, which is never a place for doubting men.

Suddenly, all the genuflecting from Sky’s cheerleaders looked premature. They hoped he would prove himself Lewis Hamilton’s heir. And one wonders whether his televisual elevation to the status of British hero presumptive may have gone to his head.

Lando Norris must prove over the final 10 races he is of world championship winning standard

Norris' mistake at the Belgian Grand Prix in July was the latest opportunity he has passed up

Norris’ mistake at the Belgian Grand Prix in July was the latest opportunity he has passed up

He has cited the super-human ability of Max Verstappen, pictured, too many times for comfort

He has cited the super-human ability of Max Verstappen, pictured, too many times for comfort

At any rate, the laurels ran ahead of the evidence.

His litany of missed opportunities is too long to detail, but they occurred in Canada, Spain, Austria, Britain and Hungary, and most recently the horror of the last race in Belgian, which began with Verstappen where he wanted him. Down the grid.

A brief recap on this. Norris started fourth, Verstappen 11th after taking an engine penalty. Norris inexplicably ran into the gravel at La Source – the first corner of the race. By the middle of the second lap, he was running seventh and Verstappen eighth. The final placings: Verstappen fourth; Norris fifth.

Make no mistake that if the two had being driving each other’s cars this season, Verstappen would be leading the championship. And possibly by more than the 78-point margin he holds over his so-called rival.

Now, Norris is clearly a good driver. He also polished his talent through the many miles his minted father Adam paid for him to practice as a youngster. But talent – and a gilded childhood – do not necessarily equate to grit.

Too many times for comfort Norris has cited Verstappen’s super-human ability, as if this represents something impossibly and legitimately beyond him. He struck the same pessimistically minor chord here in windswept Zandvoort, scene of the Dutch Grand Prix on Formula One’s return after the summer break.

‘As a driver, the championship is still in reach but there are a lot of points, and it is against Max.’

Come on! There are still 284 points on offer, when sprints and bonuses for fastest laps are counted.

This represents a unique opening served up by the record length of the campaign, 24 grands prix.

Norris struck a pessimistic tone ahead of the season's resumption at the Dutch Grand Prix

Norris struck a pessimistic tone ahead of the season’s resumption at the Dutch Grand Prix

Norris and McLaren have focused on the constructors' title, which feels like a deflection

Norris and McLaren have focused on the constructors’ title, which feels like a deflection 

Lewis Hamilton won his first title aged 23 in 2008, just one year older than Norris is now

Lewis Hamilton won his first title aged 23 in 2008, just one year older than Norris is now

Only a few years back with 14 races down, as there are now, only three or four rounds would remain. Game over in that case. Not now. Endless second chances instead.

All the way through McLaren’s brilliant resurgence this season, his and the team’s mantra has centred on winning the constructors’ championship rather than taking the drivers’ crown. It is either defeatist talk or a deflection tactic. Do his bosses believe Norris requires protection from pressure?

His blindest defenders will say, he is young and learning, albeit on £30million a year, thank you.

‘Don’t be so hard on yourself,’ they gush on Sky. This is patronising indulgence. Hamilton won his first title at the age of 23, a year older than Norris is now. He fought like a lion the previous season, never once cowering before his McLaren rival Fernando Alonso, the double and reigning world champion.

Alonso claimed his two championships aged 24 and 25, and he dethroned Michael Schumacher in the process.

Sebastian Vettel, arguably a pip down from Hamilton and Alonso, beat them both aged 23.

As for Verstappen, he never blinked in winning the first of three consecutive titles, overpowering Hamilton on the final lap in Abu Dhabi in 2021. He had just turned 24.

Sitting around the table with a careworn Lando in Zandvoort it was impossible not to sense negative vibes. He said he didn’t require the summer break for a reset. He tried to convince himself of that. Nobody else listening was convinced.

Verstappen did not blink when he had the chance of win the world title age 24 in 2021

Verstappen did not blink when he had the chance of win the world title age 24 in 2021

Norris has team-mate Oscar Piastri, left, biting at his heels if he flunks a live title fight

Norris has team-mate Oscar Piastri, left, biting at his heels if he flunks a live title fight

He also talked of being a ‘big over-thinker’. That is true. You would never say the same about the world champions above. Verstappen – over-thinking? The notion is laughable.

Nor would the Dutchman have caved in after they crashed in Austria, as Norris did. The Briton initially blamed Verstappen, but recanted next race. It revealed a weakness that has been apparent ever since.

Norris has a promising pup biting at his heels in 23-year-old Oscar Piastri, and it is hard to imagine that if Norris flunks what could still be a live title fight momentum within McLaren won’t swing his way.

Though, if Lando can win the title, or even fight for it to the death, the world will be his. And that is what he must realise and grab.

Mercedes poised to sign Antonelli

Max Verstappen is off the menu for Mercedes next year. Though their interest in enlisting his services for 2026 remains razor-sharp.

Hamilton’s place next year will instead be taken by Kimi Antonelli, the highly rated 17-year Formula Two driver from Bologna, Italy. I understand his signing will be announced in the next couple of weeks.

That leaves George Russell and Antonelli one free year to state their cases to stay on if Verstappen is drafted in. Or Mercedes could stick with both incumbents. That is unlikely, though, as a figure close to the scene, said: ‘It would certainly come cheaper.’

Mercedes will announce the signing of 17-year-old driver Kimi Antonelli in the coming weeks

Mercedes will announce the signing of 17-year-old driver Kimi Antonelli in the coming weeks

Wheatley’s Audi arrival shows F1 is a meritocracy  

Jonathan Wheatley, most famous for his radio promptings to the race director during the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, is the new Audi boss ahead of their entry in 2026.

So Red Bull’s ambitious sporting director becomes the first factory-floor mechanic to rise to team principal since Ron Dennis more than 40 years ago.

Dennis started out working on Jochen Rindt’s Cooper-Maserati in the late 1960s; Wheatly as a junior at Benetton in the early 1990s.

Whatever its rights or wrongs, who can argue that F1 isn’t a meritocracy?

Jonathan Wheatley will become the new Audi boss ahead of their F1 entry in 2026

Jonathan Wheatley will become the new Audi boss ahead of their F1 entry in 2026

KC’s still unknown in Horner process 

Nothing to see here. A second KC has cleared Christian Horner in the scandal that engulfed Red Bull by rejecting the complainant’s appeal as part of their internal process. Neither Silk has been named. Inquiries still ongoing.

Key Hamilton ally to remain at Mercedes 

Lewis Hamilton will not take Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington with him to Ferrari next year. His race engineer has been locked in by promotion to head of race engineering at Mercedes.

It is understood Hamilton rates ‘Bono’ his most loyal lieutenant, and losing his services will hurt. ‘I would have loved to have continued with him,’ said Hamilton, who remains on the search for allies as he moves into the red corner.

Hamilton will not take his race engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington with him to Ferrari next year

Hamilton will not take his race engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington with him to Ferrari next year

Lewis makes preference clear for future race locations 

A race in Rwanda is a possibility but not a certainty, just don’t tell Sir Keir. The Thais are also keen. South Korea is perhaps the leading contender.

Hamilton knows where he wants. ‘We can’t be adding races in other locations, and continue to ignore Africa, which the rest of the world takes from, and no-one gives anything back to,’ he philosophised.



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