David Coulthard shares the blunt advice he’d give to Lando Norris if he was McLaren team principal

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Lando Norris has to enter the Mexico City Grand Prix this weekend with a must-win mentality. If that label hasn’t applied before now, it certainly does after the events of Austin.

The F1 world spent the four-week break between the Singapore and US GPs calculating whether Norris could overhaul a 52-point deficit to Max Verstappen. But Verstappen actually extended his advantage to 57 by winning the Sprint and then controversially beating Norris in the race.

Norris tried to overtake him in the closing stages with fresher tyres, but went off the track on the outside of turn 12 as he did so. McLaren felt he was forced off, but the stewards handed him a five-second penalty.

Even then he would only have gained three points on Verstappen as they tussled for third, with Ferrari scoring a one-two. Now Norris needs to gain an average of 11.6 points per weekend.

There are still two Sprints remaining in addition to the five main races. But Norris hasn’t shown that he can consistently outscore the reigning champion.

Verstappen knows he’ll maintain a lead of at least 50 points even if he finishes second this weekend, provided Norris doesn’t set the fastest lap. With DNFs so rare these days, what the 24-year-old really needs is victory and a papaya/scarlet red/silver buffer to the Red Bull.

David Coulthard says Lando Norris must stop giving up the inside

One major problem for Norris this season has been race starts. Mario Andretti says Norris treated his starts as a ‘taboo’ subject, but his issue has been twofold.

He’s occasionally opened the door for rivals with a poor getaway, but he’s also been caught out by their aggression. He lost the lead in Hungary, Italy and the USA after daring moves from Verstappen and teammate Oscar Piastri.

The result is that he’s only converted two of his six pole positions this year, while Verstappen has done so five times. In Austin, his launch was clean but he failed to fully cover the inside.

Martin Brundle was frustrated with Norris for giving his title rival an opportunity. And speaking on the Formula for Success podcast, David Coulthard also offered him some rather blunt advice on his race-craft.

He said: “You’re his team principal in fantasy land. What would you say to him now that he’s had so many first-lap not-working-out situations?

“I would be saying ‘let them pass you round the outside for a change’. All this them coming down the inside, we’ve seen the script.”

Helmut Marko slams McLaren for ‘twisting’ Lando Norris claim

Coulthard’s podcast partner Eddie Jordan thinks Norris may never win a title. He would be ‘one of the best’ not to do so during his career.

Jordan fears that the 123-race driver is perhaps ‘too nice’. There are multiple races where he should have been ‘out of sight’ relative to Verstappen.

Helmut Marko believes Norris is vulnerable after what he’s seen this year. He apparently has ‘certain weaknesses in his mental state’.

Zak Brown hit back in the press conference in Texas, calling the criticism ‘inappropriate’. But Marko feels McLaren twisted his words in a deliberate attempt to ‘create unrest’.