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Martin Brundle stunned by claim Helmut Marko just made about Lando Norris after the Sao Paulo Grand Prix

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Lando Norris had a Sao Paulo Grand Prix to forget after finishing down in sixth place despite starting from pole position.

Title rival Max Verstappen won the race from P17 on the grid after staying out on track as the rain started to get heavier, despite the Dutchman calling for them to red flag the race according to Helmut Marko.

Norris lost the lead of the race from pole to George Russell and pressured his team into pitting before the red flag came out for Franco Colapinto, who crashed on the start/finish straight, causing him to drop down the order.

Verstappen and the two Alpine’s were the only cars to stay out as the rain was only due to last five minutes, with them banking on a stoppage which eventually came. Under the red flag rules, they could change their tyres and effectively lead until the end.

Norris slipped behind Charles Leclerc when he made a mistake on the restart and left the race weekend 62 points adrift of Verstappen in the title hunt.

Marko remarked that Lewis Hamilton would be closer to Verstappen if he was in the McLaren, however, Martin Brundle offered his response when speaking on Sky Sports News.

Martin Brundle does not agree with Helmut Marko’s comparison between Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton

Marko made the remarks on Norris before Verstappen put on a masterclass display in the wet around Interlagos, which Karun Chandhok said reminded him of Ayrton Senna’s 1993 race at Donington.

Brundle offered his response when asked about the comments from the Red Bull advisor that Hamilton would have won the title in this years McLaren.

“I don’t agree with that. It’s a potshot between the classic McLaren versus Red Bull when it was Red Bull versus Mercedes. That’s just typical F1 paddock one-upmanship. I quite like it, it’s all part of the sport,” said Brundle.

“Lewis is one of the all-time greats, he’s currently seventh in the championship, and he won brilliantly in Silverstone, at Spa because George was disqualified. But I don’t think I’ve seen Lewis do anything this year that would’ve made much of a difference to have won the world championship over Max Verstappen and Red Bull.”

F1 Grand Prix of Brazil and Qualifying
Photo by Kym Illman/Getty Images

Martin Brundle does not understand why Lando Norris was not fastest in Sao Paulo GP

Norris received some backlash after the Sao Paulo GP for suggesting that Verstappen’s victory was not down to talent and more a case of ‘luck’ due to the timings of the red flag.

Brundle said Norris would likely take back what he said after rewatching Verstappen’s performance, which he said was a ‘classic drive’ out in front.

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

Verstappen’s dominance in the second half of the race can be visualised through the lap times, which show that he set times that were good enough for the fastest lap of the race in the final 10 laps.

He eventually won the race by 19 seconds from Ocon, who along with Pierre Gasly, scored a double podium for Alpine.