Lando Norris told to copy Nigel Mansell and hurt Oscar Piastri

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Although Lando Norris will go into the Formula 1 summer break feeling satisfied over how the first half of his season has gone, there is still question marks over whether he can deliver a title.

McLaren looks to be in the hunt for its first Constructors’ Championship since the 1998 season having now emerged as the fastest package on the grid while Red Bull plays catch up.

Having lost victories each of the three times that he has started from pole in his F1 career, Norris has been vocal about his mistakes that have cost him wins.

Following the team orders saga in Hungary when Norris was instructed by his McLaren team to hand the lead back to Oscar Piastri, some felt the Briton should have stayed ahead given his position in the Drivers’ Championship.

One of those was Peter Windsor, who when discussing Norris on the latest Cameron F1 podcast, believes Norris must “toughen up” if he wants to regularly beat Piastri.

Lando Norris must ‘toughen up’ to beat Oscar Piastri

Norris is often criticised for showing the ruthlessness that world champions have in F1, notably Max Verstappen who was demanding to his team during the Hungary race why they put him on an unfavourable strategy.

Windsor believes Norris needs to take inspiration from former British F1 World Champion Nigel Mansell, who often hid information from Nelson Piquet when they were teammates at Williams between 1986 and 1987.

“Lando needs to toughen up if he wants to beat Oscar. He needs to be a secret that Oscar begins to not understand,” said Windsor.

“Nelson Piquet never understood Nigel Mansell, why he was quick, what he was all about, why he wanted the setup he did on the car. Nothing. Nigel raced only for himself and Lando needs to be the same, he’s too much of an open book.”

Lando Norris’ mentality under the spotlight

The McLaren driver has previously been highlighted for his self-critical mentality whenever he does not have a perfect race weekend.

Nico Rosberg believes he should visit a psychologist, having also done the same when he was racing in F1 at the height of his title battle with teammate Lewis Hamilton.

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

Norris also received advice from Ralf Schumacher, who believes he must ‘urgently’ address his race starts after making another mistake during the Belgian GP that cost him places at the start.

While it could be too late for Norris to challenge for the Drivers’ Championship in 2024 given the points deficit to Max Verstappen in the standings, McLaren is only getting stronger against Red Bull and will likely challenge them in 2025 when this year’s cars enter their final season.