Eddie Jordan tells Lando Norris to ‘toughen up’ after watching the Sao Paulo Grand Prix

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McLaren driver Lando Norris is on the cusp of watching the best chance in his burgeoning Formula 1 career to win a world championship slip away.

It always seemed like an incredibly difficult task for Lando Norris to overturn the considerable gap Max Verstappen had built up in the Drivers’ Championship at the start of the season, despite McLaren’s fantastic upturn in form over the course of the year.

At the beginning of the 2023 season, McLaren were simply hoping not to finish last at every race, but have undergone a transformation that all the current backmarker teams will be hoping to replicate.

Norris finally achieved the first victory of his F1 career at the Miami Grand Prix and since then has been on a mission to try and catch Verstappen with Red Bull faltering.

Victories in the Netherlands and Singapore gave him and McLaren hope as they took the lead in the Constructors’ Championship.

However, small mistakes – both on his side and on the pit wall – have slowly hampered his progress.

Verstappen then produced a drive for the ages at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix that all but assures him of a fourth consecutive title.

Eddie Jordan was speaking on a bonus podcast of Formula For Success and addressed Norris’ title ambitions.

He believes the Brit needs to ‘toughen up’ after what he saw in Brazil last weekend.

Eddie Jordan tells Lando Norris to ‘toughen up’ after the Sao Paulo Grand Prix

Jordan was asked if there would be a reshuffle in the established order on the grid if the regulations were changed and said: “I reflect back to all of the years that happened and we know how tough the Prost/Senna days were with Mansell in there banging wheels and everything. They were tough days.

“And at the moment, there are a couple of drivers who still have to toughen themselves up.

“I include in that Lando. Lando has a bit of learn, he’s got unbelievable speed, there’s absolutely no doubt.

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

“But without the passing mechanism, without the ability to have things happen in his favour because the car is so quick, I’d just like to see him go toe-to-toe with somebody like Max because in a real situation like that where there are not advantages, my guess is that Max is a true worthy world champion and he’s doing everything that Michael Schumacher did, that Senna did, that Prost did, they’ve all done it.

“The world champions are those that have extra steel and no one’s going to pass them if they can avoid it.”

Lando Norris left facing ‘surprising’ problem during the Sao Paulo Grand Prix

The beginning of the race weekend in Brazil looked positive for McLaren and Norris.

Teammate Oscar Piastri claimed pole position for the Sprint Race and allowed Norris through to take victory, with Verstappen finishing fourth after picking up a penalty.

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

The Brit then put his car on pole position for Sunday afternoon’s Grand Prix in treacherous conditions.

However, another difficult start allowed George Russell through, before an ill-timed pit stop just before a red flag allowed Verstappen to leapfrog him going into the second half of the race.

Martin Brundle has suggested Norris faced a ‘surprising’ problem in Sao Paulo, but he was powerless to stop Verstappen from claiming an incredible win.

His mistake during the final restart of the race meant he could only finish sixth, and he now needs Verstappen to fail to score points at each of the final three races to have a realistic chance of winning his first championship.