Karun Chandhok disappointed by mistake McLaren star Lando Norris keeps making after Spa

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Lando Norris endured a disappointing Belgian Grand Prix after finishing sixth on the road, two places down where he started in his McLaren.

Despite being promoted to fifth with the disqualification of George Russell for having an underweight car, Norris showed his disappointment after the race when facing the media.

Much of his race unravelled during the first few meters at the start when he ran wide in his McLaren on the exit of La Source and dipped two wheels into the gravel exiting the corner.

This dropped him to seventh place before he reclaimed sixth from Carlos Sainz via another off-track moment, then settled in behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen for the second half of the race.

From there he struggled to keep up with Verstappen through the middle sector, notably after McLaren was compromised between its wet and dry setups from qualifying.

After failing to progress any further up the order, former F1 driver Karun Chandhok believes a simple error that Norris has been making during other races has put him on the backfoot when analysing his race on Sky Sports F1.

Karun Chandhok points out Lando Norris error in Belgian GP

It was the second weekend in a row that Norris was overtaken by his teammate into the first corner.

The Briton admitted after the race that he was trying to avoid contact at the start having started further back than in previous races, owing largely to the difficult conditions during qualifying on Saturday.

Former McLaren F1 mechanic Marc Priestley was left disappointed by Norris’ start, while Chandhok has pointed out a trend that Norris has picked up in the last few races which is impacting his finishing result.

“Norris started fourth and finished sixth. Again it’s the opening lap and unfortunately for him, we’ve seen it in Barcelona, Budapest, and now here. It’s cost him.”

Lando Norris’ unwanted pole position F1 stat

Positions lost on an opening lap have been a reoccurring theme for Norris throughout this season, having failed to win a race since he took his first Grand Prix victory at Miami.

McLaren has comfortably been one of the fastest packages on track, with Oscar Piastri eventually finishing second after starting from fifth on the grid.

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Norris has failed to convert a pole into a race win on all three occasions in his F1 career, with the latest occurring at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

He heads into the summer break with a deficit of 78 points to main title rival Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship after the Red Bull driver outscored him by two points.