Eddie Jordan says Lando Norris must now learn ‘one thing’ from Max Verstappen battle

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With just a handful of laps to go during the Austrian Grand Prix, McLaren star Lando Norris would have been fully aware that a second Formula 1 victory was in sight.

Red Bull and Max Verstappen had made some uncharacteristic mistakes during their final pit stop that suddenly gave Lando Norris a chance to close the gap to the Dutchman in the Drivers’ Championship.

However, after several laps of very close fighting, both drivers had their races ruined by punctures caused by contact when trying to negotiate the tight turn-three hairpin.

George Russell drove by in his Mercedes to double his career tally of Formula 1 wins after their collision, with Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz joining him on the podium.

Speaking on the Formula For Success Club, former Formula 1 team owner Eddie Jordan gave his verdict on the intriguing battle.

Although Verstappen was the driver who was penalised by the stewards, he ultimately benefitted more than Norris from the crash.

He went on to secure a fifth-place finish, while Norris’s car was too damaged to continue once he returned to the pits.

Jordan has told Norris that he now has to learn one key lesson from his battle with Verstappen if he’s going to regularly challenge for victories and potentially even a world championship.

He believes the 24-year-old is already ‘incredible’ but wasn’t completely blameless for what happened in Austria on Sunday.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from height and parents to celebration

Eddie Jordan shares what Lando Norris must ‘learn’ from Max Verstappen battle

Talking about the key incident at the Red Bull Ring, Jordan said: “There’s a lot of people on the bandwagon and criticising Max [Verstappen] for this, that and the other.

“But, I would just say one thing, that he’s a very, very young boy Lando [Norris].

“He is an incredible talent and will be in the future, but one thing he has to learn and what yesterday will have taught him is that Max is a fighter, he’s a bear.

“And before you get in the ring with a bear, you’ve got to make sure you’re prepared for it and to go one side and then the other side and then plead it.

“The actual incident itself could have been so easily avoided because the front wheel of Lando’s car hit the rear wheel of Max and that was the cause of the initial puncture.

“Before I criticise or blame anyone, I fail to understand why he got the ten-second penalty…of course, it’s a racing incident!”

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Lando Norris having his best Formula 1 season yet despite Max Verstappen crash

Despite being forced to retire from the Austrian Grand Prix, Lando Norris remains Max Verstappen’s closest challenger in the Drivers’ Championship.

The gap, however, has now extended to 81 points but Charles Leclerc’s disappointing weekend means he was unable to leapfrog the McLaren driver.

This is the strongest season Norris has ever had in Formula 1 and is on course to score more than 300 points for the first time.

Verstappen may only be two years older than the Brit, but has several more F1 seasons under his belt and that additional experience is going to be vital if McLaren’s car ends up being faster than his Red Bull.

Helmut Marko accused Norris of being ‘a little more’ at fault for their collision although his bias makes it hard to take that statement seriously.

What can be taken more seriously is the analysis from former world champion Jacques Villeneuve after the race who thought Norris was the most impressive driver during the race.

He needs to continue that momentum into the British Grand Prix and he’ll be hoping to go one better than last season and finally win his home race at Silverstone on Sunday.