Martin Brundle says Lando Norris ‘needs to stop’ doing one thing in his fight with Max Verstappen

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Lando Norris has enjoyed a landmark Formula 1 season in 2024. He scored his first victory at the Miami Grand Prix in May, and has added two more since in the Netherlands and Singapore.

Norris has also bagged five pole positions, having only notched one in his first five seasons. He came into the season with 13 podiums to his name and could well double that tally before the year is out (he’s currently on 23).

But many will feel this was his first opportunity to win a world championship, and he failed to capitalise. McLaren have, by most accounts, been the fastest team in F1 since a major upgrade in Miami.

They have surged into the lead into the lead of the constructors’ championship, building up a 40-point lead over Red Bull with five races to go. But he’s failed to consistently reduce Max Verstappen’s championship advantage.

Accounts vary, but the consensus is that Norris could be, give or take, within a race win of Verstappen if he and McLaren had been more ruthless. There have been a series of strategic and individual errors.

At the US Grand Prix, Norris started in first but ended up fourth – the fourth time this season he’s failed to convert pole position. He lost out in two battles with Verstappen, who completed the podium.

Martin Brundle tells Lando Norris to stop leaving a ‘welcome mat’ out for Max Verstappen

The fallout from the lap 52 incident between Norris and Verstappen at the Circuit of the Americas has continued in Mexico. McLaren have lodged a right of review as they try to get the penalty overturned.

But Sky Sports F1 pundit Martin Brundle is concerned by what had happened at the start of the race. Norris made a clean getaway but failed to fully cover off the inside.

Verstappen saw an opportunity and made an aggressive move, resulting in both drivers going off the circuit. Norris complained over the radio, but the stewards are typically more lenient with lap-one incidents.

Brundle feels that Norris needs to learn a lesson. Verstappen was always going to exploit any gap that was available.

“Lando needs to stop putting a welcome mat out on the inside,” he said. “Max Verstappen does not need a second invitation. He doesn’t even need a first invitation to go up the inside if you’re leaving a car’s width.”

Lando Norris has taken a ‘tip’ from Christian Horner in Mexico City Grand Prix interviews

Norris feels that Verstappen has an advantage because of his past experience. He pointed to his neck-and-neck battle with Lewis Hamilton in 2021, which has made him more comfortable operating under extreme pressure.

McLaren and Norris may both be stronger next year, when they’re expected to be contenders once again. The team themselves have had to remember how to win, 12 years after they were last a consistent frontrunner.

Norris has developed on and off the track. He’s maintained a close friendship with Verstappen and can learn a great deal from him.

One journalist says Norris copied Christian Horner in his interviews before the Mexican GP. He started answering his own questions in an attempt to control the narrative.