The 2025 F1 Canadian GP marked another error for Lando Norris in the racecraft department. This was the highest profile one as it involved his teammate and championship rival Oscar Piastri.
A history of mistakes Lando Norris is not learning from
Last Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix error from Lando Norris is unfortunately the latest in a long list of misjudgements and mistakes he has made in wheel-to-wheel combat. Let’s take a look at them in full here.
2023 Brazil GP — Sprint
These were the first signs of Lando Norris struggling with racecraft while running at the front.
A series of significant performance gains from McLaren from the middle of 2023 quickly moved them from the midfield towards the front on a consistent basis, although Max Verstappen was generally untouchable for race victories and the championship two years ago.
However, after taking pole for the F1 Sprint at Interlagos, Norris had a chance to lay a marker down. While his initial launch was pretty good and the possibility to at least properly squeeze Verstappen on the inside was there, he left the door open for the Dutchman. The now four-time World Champion needed no second invitation to go straight down the inside and take the lead at turn 1.
Further into the opening lap, the McLaren driver was caught sleeping by George Russell into turn 10 as the Mercedes driver made a big move to demote his Brit to P3 at that point.
2024 Chinese GP — Sprint
On pole position following a brilliant performance in wet conditions, Lando Norris threw it all away in the first 15 seconds of the Sprint race. Lewis Hamilton got a better launch and took the lead as they ran down to turn 1.
Instead of tucking in, the McLaren driver tried to hold it around the outside. He ultimately slid wide and dropped to 7th.
It was a poor misjudgement that cost him a probable P2 or P3 as Max Verstappen had massive pace.
2024 Austrian GP — Sprint
On lap 5 of the Sprint, Norris sent it from a long way back but got it stopped and overtook Verstappen into turn 3. It was a brilliant pass.
Job done? It should have been considering he had DRS heading down to turn 4.
However, for some reason he left the inside open and Max Verstappen was never going to refuse that opportunity as he went straight back down the inside with an equally brilliant move on the brakes.
Oscar Piastri got a better run out of turn 5 as Norris was compromised and swept around the outside into T6.
What should have been the lead for Norris turned into 3rd. A brilliant move was followed by him falling asleep.
2024 Austrian GP — Main race
While Max Verstappen was ultimately to blame for the costly collision on lap 64, Lando Norris’ divebombs on laps 59 and 63 felt like desperation as he displayed questionable racecraft.
As the Red Bull lost pace as the race went on and the McLaren of Norris was getting stronger, it all came to a head in the last stint as the Brit had new mediums versus used ones for the Dutchman.
While the contact that gave both damage — and a DNF in the case of Norris — was certainly Verstappen’s fault, the Brit should have been a few seconds down the road already.
2024 Belgian GP
In one of the more bizarre moments of racecraft you’ll ever see, Lando Norris went side-by-side with Oscar Piastri into turn 1 for P4. On the exit of the corner he got on the outside kerb and dipped his left hand side wheels into the gravel even though he had plenty of room to stay on track, throwing away positions to Russell and Sainz.
It was a day he should have taken points out of Max Verstappen. In the end he finished a spot behind him at the flag.
2024 Italian GP
The question at the time whether McLaren should have been using team orders to help Lando Norris in the Drivers’ Championship was a valid one in this writers opinion.
From pole position, he led through the first chicane and looked to have things under control.
However, heading into the second chicane, Oscar Piastri made a daring, brilliant pass on the Brit. Norris was mugged.
It got worse on the exit of it as eventual race winner Charles Leclerc also got through due to a very compromised line.
On a weekend where he could have won or finished 2nd at the absolute worst, he was only 3rd. Max Verstappen and Red Bull having no pace really rubbed salt into the wounds.
2024 United States GP — Sprint
Sitting in P2 heading into the final lap of the Sprint at COTA, Carlos Sainz feigned for a move that was not on into turn 1. Yet, Norris locked up, went deep and lost the position.
That was another point down the drain against Max Verstappen as his title hopes started to slip further away.
2024 United States GP — Main race
Starting on pole position, Lando Norris had a chance to claw back some points in the championship.
While many will point to the late race controversy where Lando Norris overtook off the track and got a penalty when title rival Verstappen also ran off the circuit, it was the start that was a particularly poor piece of racecraft.
With Verstappen on the front row alongside him, the British driver just needed to cover the inside of turn 1 to keep the place providing he got a good launch.
However, he left the door wide open once again and the Dutchman was always going to lunge. It allowed Leclerc into the lead as Norris dropped to 4th following that big error of judgement.
2025 Chinese GP — Sprint
Following a poor qualifying showing in the Sprint, Lando Norris made his life even more difficult by dropping from 6th to 9th on the opening lap.
As he went to hit the brakes into turn 6, he got on the outside kerb, catching a bit of dirt in the process. He had no grip mid-corner and on exit because of dirt on his tyres, losing three spots.
It was another head scratching mistake.
2025 Bahrain GP
Battling Charles Leclerc for 3rd in the closing stages of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Lando Norris looked to make a move into turn 1 on the start of lap 46.
The Ferrari driver went to cover the inside into turn 1. As the Brit looked to go down the outside or even potentially set himself up for the run down to turn 4 to make the pass, he had a lock-up.
Although he eventually did get Leclerc, he threw away extra laps to try and get George Russell for 2nd place.
2025 Saudi Arabian GP
At the Saudi Arabian GP, Lando Norris produced one of the worst pieces of racecraft you are likely to see.
After a crash in qualifying left him down in P10, he was on a recovery through the field and got himself behind Lewis Hamilton.
Nonetheless, he ultimately cost himself a proper shot at P3 thanks to a battle that should have ended much sooner.
Norris overtook Lewis Hamilton in the penultimate DRS zone on two occasions before the last turn. The Ferrari driver used DRS on the main straight to repass both times.
Eventually Norris worked it out and did not overtake before the final corner, making the move for keeps down the main straight at the third time of asking.
2025 Canadian GP
Last time out in Montreal, Lando Norris made a huge and costly racecraft error as his titles hopes took a fairly sizable dent.
Battling Oscar Piastri for P4, he made a bold but good attempt to pass the Aussie into the hairpin. Although the championship leader got the switchback on exit and managed to brake late into the final chicane, Norris had a run on him heading down to turn 1.
Inexplicably, however, he drove into the back of Piastri as he tried to create a gap on the inside that was never there.
It was a puzzling move and the latest example of very poor racecraft from Lando Norris.
Heading into Austria this weekend, the Brit trails his teammate by 22 points.
Racecraft has not been the only problem for Lando Norris
Since those game-changing updates McLaren brought from mid-2023 that transformed them into a front running team, Norris has made too many mistakes in other areas as well.
Qualifying
In late 2023 he started P10 in Qatar after going out of bounds on both his Q3 runs. He was out in Q1 at Mexico after a mistake. On his last attempt in Abu Dhabi, he had a big slide in the last sector that cost him a front row start.
While he had many strong qualifying showings in 2024, Norris did underperform in the Miami Sprint one.
2025 has been a massive struggle for Lando Norris in qualifying for the most part. He has talked about struggling with the feeling of the MCL39. It has been obvious.
Very poor showings in the China Sprint and Bahrain left him 6th on the grid. He crashed in Q3 at Jeddah. Mistakes on his laps in Montreal left him P7 on the grid.
Races
Aside from the aforementioned China Sprint, Monza and COTA, Norris also failed to lead at the end of lap 1 after starting on pole in Spain, Hungary, The Netherlands and Brazil last year.
On the F1 Singapore GP weekend in 2024 where he was crushingly dominant and operating at a level that Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen etc. would have been happy with on pace, even then questions could be raised as Norris almost crashed out on a couple of occasions with a big lead.
He also got the aborted start procedure wrong in Brazil as he took off for a second formation lap. Norris was unbelievably fortunate to escape a penalty considering a crane was in the run-off trying to clear Lance Stroll’s car at turn 4.
Will Norris ever be good enough to go on and a claim a title?
There is no question Lando Norris is a very fast driver. Last year he thumped teammate Oscar Piastri in qualifying, even if the Aussie was only in his second season. His race pace and tyre management was also a level above his teammate.
He was also outstanding under big pressure in Abu Dhabi to seal the Constructors’ Championship for McLaren. It was their first since 1998. So he can deliver in the biggest moments, albeit nowhere near enough. Indeed this writer predicted him for the title in 2025.
Unfortunately for him and his many fans, Norris generally makes too many costly errors. That rate has shot up this year in qualifying.
Lando Norris’ racecraft is a long, long way from the benchmark drivers on the current grid. The likes of Charles Leclerc, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen (when he feels like racing cleanly as Imola demonstrated) are miles clear in this department. If you were marking racecraft on the current qualifying system, he would be knocked out in Q1.
Thanks to Oscar Piastri making a significant step over the winter, the battle inside McLaren now is very close. The Aussie has clearly proven to have better racecraft to date. It could be defining when the season is reviewed in December. 2024 was already a great opportunity, this year is a golden one.
Elite racecraft is usually something a driver has because of their own natural ability in wheel-to-wheel battles. It’s very hard to teach it. Unless Norris finds ways to improve in this particular area, his chances of winning a F1 Drivers’ Championship are pretty much zero.
