Martin Brundle can’t work out one ‘surprising’ problem Lando Norris faced at Sao Paulo Grand Prix

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Lando Norris was enjoying an almost perfect weekend at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. He’d won the Sprint race and then taken pole position for Sunday’s main event as many of his rivals struggled.

Oscar Piastri used a ‘Fernando Alonso trick’ to pip Norris to Sprint pole on Friday evening. But, as expected, McLaren instructed the Australian to move over during the race to allow his championship-chasing teammate maximum points.

In the delayed qualifying session, Norris coped superbly with awful conditions. A quarter of the field crashed out, Lewis Hamilton failed to make it past Q1 and Piastri was only eighth on the grid.

Most importantly, Verstappen suffered a Q2 exit, though this was down to a late red flag following Lance Stroll’s accident. A five-place penalty for an international combustion engine change demoted him to 17th.

With Norris on pole after lapping just under two-tenths faster than George Russell, it looked like a race that could transform the title picture. And sure enough it did, just not in the way most expected.

Verstappen produced an all-time great drive to surge from 17th to first, aided this time by a fortunate red flag. Norris, who was on the wrong end of that stoppage, dropped to sixth, which saw the deficit balloon to 62 points.

Martin Brundle doesn’t understand why Lando Norris and McLaren weren’t fastest at Brazilian Grand Prix

Norris received a backlash after the race for suggesting that Verstappen’s win was down to ‘luck – nothing more’. The red flag enabled him to fit fresh intermediate tyres without the time loss of a pit stop.

But speaking to Sky Sports on Monday, Martin Brundle suggested Norris would take back what he said. After rewatching the race, he’ll recognise that Verstappen produced a ‘classic drive’.

Brundle feels Verstappen took a calculated gamble in staying out. Given that the track was so slippery, it seemed only a matter of time before the race had to be paused.

One concern for Norris is that McLaren lost their advantage in the race. He’d looked ‘so good’ in qualifying but it was Verstappen who was lighting up the timing screens on Sunday.

“I think he will [take back his post-race comments] because Max was in a class of one,” Brundle said. “Those conditions suit his talent level. The McLaren wasn’t the fastest car in the rain, which was a bit surprising because they looked so good in qualifying in wet conditions.

“Max got unlucky with the red flag in qualifying but he stayed out on track in the race and expected a Safety Car or a red-flag situation. So he knew what to do and then he just steamed off and won by 19 seconds at a canter really, it was a classic drive.”

Martin Brundle shares what Lando Norris ‘lacks’ compared to Max Verstappen

McLaren ditched their low-downforce rear wing for a higher-downforce model amid the downpour that followed the Sprint. This no doubt helped Norris sail to pole, but it arguably hurt him in the race.

The Briton had too much drag to catch and pass Russell on the start/finish straight, having surrendered the lead to the Mercedes man at the start. He spent much of the race within a second of his compatriot.

He’s started on pole seven times this year but only led at the end of the first lap once. Brundle says Norris may lack ‘killer instinct’ compared to Verstappen.

However, the pundit is also confident that he’ll learn from his first experience of a title fight. Helmut Marko believes Verstappen proved he was the ‘real champion’ with his display in Sao Paulo.