Lando Norris will not be “a great champion” in F1 despite being
backed to win a title during his career. The McLaren driver endured
a difficult grand prix last time out in Brazil, crossing the line
in sixth place. Max Verstappen dominated the field en route to
victory, finishing almost 20 seconds ahead of his nearest rival
after starting from 17th on the grid. It has placed Verstappen on
the verge of a fourth F1 title, a feat he can claim in the
forthcoming Las Vegas Grand Prix. Speaking exclusively to
RacingNews365 , former F1 driver Martin Donnelly has stated Norris
should use the coming months to better himself ahead of a potential
title fight next year. “That wasn’t the car, that was Max,”
Donnelly said, reflecting on Verstappen’s drive in São Paulo. “As
Eddie Jordan said, he didn’t see anything from Lando at Interlagos
that convinced him that Lando is going to be a great world
champion. “He’ll be a world champion one day, but not a great
champion. Drives like Max produced, you’re born with that. You
don’t learn that. “He said that Lando needs to take a good, hard
look at himself in the mirror and analyse how he can get into the
performance that Max produced on that Sunday. “Because there are
great drivers, and there are brilliant drivers. Brilliant drivers
in my book were [Ayrton] Senna, [and Michael] Schumacher.
[Fernando] Alonso is still there. He proved with the right car, he
can put it towards the front. “Good drivers, they can win on the
odd occasion. Your Coulthards, your Webbers, your Irvines – they’re
good drivers, but they’re not great drivers. “They can’t produce
that last half a second, or cope with a car that’s not on the nose
and still get a lap time with it. “That’s what Lando needs to look
at over the course of the winter months because if he doesn’t catch
it soon and cop on to it, Max, in the wet conditions, will just
turn around [and say] ‘Put me at the back of the grid. Don’t worry.
I’ll bide my time and work my way towards the front because I know
behind the wheel I’m the best out there’.” Verstappen wet
performance a result of karting practice Verstappen’s win came in
treacherous conditions and marked his first trip to the top step of
the podium since the Spanish Grand Prix in June. When asked if he
sees any driver on the grid beating Verstappen across the season
with little to separate different cars, Donnelly replied: “No,
because they haven’t got what Max has got. “Lewis [Hamilton], in
his early years, he had some great races at Silverstone in the wet
and more or less lapped nearly the whole field. “Lewis has been in
there since 2007. He’s still a good driver, give him a good car and
he’ll get there on the day. “Max on Sunday hadn’t got the best car
out there. Where was Sergio [Perez]? My God! I’m not even sure if
he lapped Sergio. He didn’t make mistakes, he kept focused, he hit
his apexes and kept it on the straight and narrow.” Verstappen was
joined on the podium by the Alpine duo of Esteban Ocon and Pierre
Gasly, who gifted the French team its best result of the campaign.
Donnelly highlighted that the skills that allowed them to succeed
in the wet conditions were instilled during their karting days.
“That’s just something he [Verstappen] has honed from his early
years in karting,” remarked Donnelly. “While the guys were in the
motorhome keeping warm and drinking cocoa, he was out there in the
wet on slick tyres getting soaked because his dad put him out
there. “The other two guys at Alpine, those top three, all came
from karting, all were out there testing in the wet conditions
because their fathers or teams said, ‘This will stand by you. You
go out there, you will learn so much’. “In the dry, with Alpine,
they were nowhere. And in the wet conditions, it gave the chance
for a driver’s talent to shine through. “Where have Ocon and Gasly
been during the year? In wet conditions, their talents in the wet
came to the front. “And I hope everybody else needs to give
themselves a good talking to and say, ‘What’s going on here?’ going
into 2025 and beyond.”
backed to win a title during his career. The McLaren driver endured
a difficult grand prix last time out in Brazil, crossing the line
in sixth place. Max Verstappen dominated the field en route to
victory, finishing almost 20 seconds ahead of his nearest rival
after starting from 17th on the grid. It has placed Verstappen on
the verge of a fourth F1 title, a feat he can claim in the
forthcoming Las Vegas Grand Prix. Speaking exclusively to
RacingNews365 , former F1 driver Martin Donnelly has stated Norris
should use the coming months to better himself ahead of a potential
title fight next year. “That wasn’t the car, that was Max,”
Donnelly said, reflecting on Verstappen’s drive in São Paulo. “As
Eddie Jordan said, he didn’t see anything from Lando at Interlagos
that convinced him that Lando is going to be a great world
champion. “He’ll be a world champion one day, but not a great
champion. Drives like Max produced, you’re born with that. You
don’t learn that. “He said that Lando needs to take a good, hard
look at himself in the mirror and analyse how he can get into the
performance that Max produced on that Sunday. “Because there are
great drivers, and there are brilliant drivers. Brilliant drivers
in my book were [Ayrton] Senna, [and Michael] Schumacher.
[Fernando] Alonso is still there. He proved with the right car, he
can put it towards the front. “Good drivers, they can win on the
odd occasion. Your Coulthards, your Webbers, your Irvines – they’re
good drivers, but they’re not great drivers. “They can’t produce
that last half a second, or cope with a car that’s not on the nose
and still get a lap time with it. “That’s what Lando needs to look
at over the course of the winter months because if he doesn’t catch
it soon and cop on to it, Max, in the wet conditions, will just
turn around [and say] ‘Put me at the back of the grid. Don’t worry.
I’ll bide my time and work my way towards the front because I know
behind the wheel I’m the best out there’.” Verstappen wet
performance a result of karting practice Verstappen’s win came in
treacherous conditions and marked his first trip to the top step of
the podium since the Spanish Grand Prix in June. When asked if he
sees any driver on the grid beating Verstappen across the season
with little to separate different cars, Donnelly replied: “No,
because they haven’t got what Max has got. “Lewis [Hamilton], in
his early years, he had some great races at Silverstone in the wet
and more or less lapped nearly the whole field. “Lewis has been in
there since 2007. He’s still a good driver, give him a good car and
he’ll get there on the day. “Max on Sunday hadn’t got the best car
out there. Where was Sergio [Perez]? My God! I’m not even sure if
he lapped Sergio. He didn’t make mistakes, he kept focused, he hit
his apexes and kept it on the straight and narrow.” Verstappen was
joined on the podium by the Alpine duo of Esteban Ocon and Pierre
Gasly, who gifted the French team its best result of the campaign.
Donnelly highlighted that the skills that allowed them to succeed
in the wet conditions were instilled during their karting days.
“That’s just something he [Verstappen] has honed from his early
years in karting,” remarked Donnelly. “While the guys were in the
motorhome keeping warm and drinking cocoa, he was out there in the
wet on slick tyres getting soaked because his dad put him out
there. “The other two guys at Alpine, those top three, all came
from karting, all were out there testing in the wet conditions
because their fathers or teams said, ‘This will stand by you. You
go out there, you will learn so much’. “In the dry, with Alpine,
they were nowhere. And in the wet conditions, it gave the chance
for a driver’s talent to shine through. “Where have Ocon and Gasly
been during the year? In wet conditions, their talents in the wet
came to the front. “And I hope everybody else needs to give
themselves a good talking to and say, ‘What’s going on here?’ going
into 2025 and beyond.”