Eddie Jordan explains why Lando Norris ‘hasn’t got’ what Max Verstappen has to be world champion

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Lando Norris faces a 62-point deficit to Max Verstappen heading into the final three races of the 2024 Formula 1 season.

Verstappen only has to outscore Norris at the next round in Las Vegas to secure his fourth world championship, after a disappointing race for the Briton in Sao Paulo.

Norris had started from pole while his title rival was down in P17 following an ill-timed red flag in qualifying and a grid drop for taking new engine components. The Red Bull driver made stunning progress throughout the field, with Karun Chandhok comparing it to Ayrton Senna’s masterclass in the rain at Donington in 1993.

Norris had conceded the lead to George Russell at the first corner and was pressuring his McLaren team to pit midway through the race when the rain increased. The team was reluctant to pit due to the traffic, but decided to do so when the Virtual Safety Car came out for Nico Hulkenberg’s stricken Haas.

This was later upgraded to a full Safety Car and subsequently a red flag when Franco Colapinto crashed. The red flag enabled those who stayed out, Verstappen and the two Alpine’s, the ability to switch tyres without incurring any pit stop time loss.

This effectively relegated Norris down to fifth and at the restart he made another mistake that put him behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in sixth. Eddie Jordan believes Norris’ race in Brazil showed that he does not yet have what it takes to win the title over Verstappen when speaking on the Formula for Success podcast.

Lando Norris has not got what it takes to win title over Max Verstappen

Norris has made numerous mistakes in his title battle with Verstappen this season, notably having lost the lead on the opening lap on every occasion he’s started from pole apart from at this year’s Singapore GP.

During the run of races between Canada and Belgium, Norris lost a potential 71 points through a series of strategy errors and on-track blunders.

Norris has previously admitted that he might not be in a position to win a title, and Jordan feels the Briton must learn from his mistakes if he wants to come back next year in a stronger position.

“Lando hasn’t quite got there yet. He hasn’t got there on the start. He hasn’t got there on the pole position run to the corner. He has the speed, beyond any doubt, he’s got the speed. But there’s nothing in me that tells me that I’ve seen in Lando something that I saw what Max could do on Sunday. Nothing,” said Jordan.

“I’m sorry, it’s just not there. So Lando has to look at himself along and hard this winter into the mirror and say to himself, if I’m going to be a great world champion, I have a lot to learn here and I need to start replaying those videos about what it really is like to be hard, tough and victorious. And I’m sorry, at this moment in time, he hasn’t got it.”

Martin Brundle tells Lando Norris what he ‘lacks’ in F1 title fight

Martin Brundle has told Lando Norris that he lacks the ‘killer instinct’ to become a world champion and believes this will come with more experience.

Norris was criticised for making small errors in Brazil due to lack of preparation, having made an error during the start procedure after Lance Stroll’s crash forced an aborted start.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

This is Norris’ sixth season in F1 having made his debut with McLaren in 2019, with Verstappen only managing to win his first title seven years into his career.

It is likely to be a year that Norris reflects on if he can mount the same title challenge in 2025 and McLaren continues its upward trajectory.