Martin Brundle noticed that 21-podium F1 star was unhappy ‘all weekend’ at Belgian GP

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Max Verstappen’s 10-place grid penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix presented an opportunity for his F1 rivals. Verstappen had set a formidable pace at Spa but had to start down in 11th.

The Red Bull driver was comfortably fastest in one of the two dry practice sessions before the race, and he set the quickest time in qualifying by more than six-tenths of a second. But it proved difficult for him to progress through the order.

Verstappen was seemingly hampered by the decision to shorten the DRS zone on the Kemmel Straight. Red Bull took their impending penalty at Spa because of its overtake-friendly reputation, but this made it significantly more difficult to pass.

In the end, he could only climb to fifth on the road. That then became fourth when the stewards disqualified race-winner George Russell, whose Mercedes was underweight.

Lewis Hamilton inherited the victory, but he remains sixth in the championship and 127 points behind Verstappen. Oscar Piastri was second, which meant he leapfrogged Carlos Sainz for P4 in the standings, and Charles Leclerc was third.

Martin Brundle says Lando Norris was out-of-sorts at Belgian GP

Speaking before the race, Verstappen was adamant that Lando Norris could still win the title. But if he was to overturn what was a 76-point gap heading into the race, this seemed like a must-win.

McLaren prioritised their race-day set-up, which limited Norris and Piastri to fourth and fifth on the grid. But the Briton lost ground at turn one when he ran wide and dipped a wheel in the gravel.

That put him on the back foot for the remainder of the race, and he was only able to salvage fifth. He somehow managed to lose ground to Verstappen despite the latter’s demotion.

Writing in his column for Sky Sports F1, former driver Martin Brundle shared his observations on Norris. He noticed that the 24-year-old was ‘unhappy’ throughout the weekend.

Brundle suspects that this may have stemmed from the events of the Hungarian GP a week prior. Norris had to move aside and give his teammate a victory McLaren felt he had earned.

“Lando Norris appeared a little unhappy about something all weekend despite solid performances, and I wondered if the events of Budapest the weekend before were still playing on his mind,” Brundle wrote.

Helmut Marko aims dig at Lando Norris post-Spa

The main positive for Andrea Stella and co. was that McLaren made further inroads on Red Bull in the constructors’ standings. The gap has now fallen to 42 points, low enough to be overhauled at a single race weekend.

For Verstappen individually, though, this was a successful damage limitation exercise. He’s only won three of the last nine races, but he still looks on course to win a fourth consecutive championship.

After the race, Helmut Marko was implicitly critical of Norris, who has scored 21 podiums but only one win. He suggested that Piastri was the ‘mentally stronger’ driver at McLaren.

Meanwhile, Sky Sports F1 driver Karun Chandhok has noticed a worrying trend for Norris. This is the third time a poor start has cost him in 2024 after previous mishaps in Spain and Hungary.