McLaren’s interesting unseen tactic for protecting Lando Norris at the Qatar Grand Prix

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McLaren driver Lando Norris didn’t win his first Formula 1 drivers’ championship at the Qatar Grand Prix, but before the race started, his team did everything in their power to help him get over the line.

If Lando Norris doesn’t win the 2025 drivers’ championship, then the Qatar Grand Prix will be looked back on as one of McLaren’s biggest missed opportunities.

Norris started second behind teammate Oscar Piastri, but immediately fell behind Max Verstappen on the opening lap in Qatar.

McLaren’s strategy error under the safety car left the team’s fans stunned, and while Piastri was able to recover to second after having his best weekend since winning at Zandvoort, Norris wasn’t so lucky.

The British driver just got out ahead of Fernando Alonso after his first stop, but came out in fifth after his second mandatory tyre change.

Kimi Antonelli impressed before the race in Qatar before making an error that handed Norris P4, but he couldn’t finish on the podium, narrowing his lead at the top of the standings once again.

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

McLaren protected Lando Norris in Qatar by limiting his media exposure

McLaren’s strategy team might have made the wrong call, but on the marketing side of things, Norris was given as much protection as possible before the race.

ESPN journalist Nate Saunders reported in the build-up to the race in Lusail: “Caught [a] glimpse of a rather focused Lando Norris on the grid.

“Every photographer at that end of the grid was briefly clamouring around him.

“Always hard to read into a person’s mindset, but clearly a lot going on in his head – McLaren didn’t let TV cameras or microphones near him in the build-up here.

“This could be the biggest 90 minutes or so of his life.”

READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

Lando Norris laments ‘frustrating’ Qatar Grand Prix result after McLaren error

McLaren have no plans to prioritise Norris over Piastri, despite his 16-point advantage over his teammate.

The race in Qatar highlighted the pace that Piastri possesses and raised further questions about what went wrong after he opened up a 34-point lead over his teammate after the Dutch Grand Prix.

Norris might be getting plenty of protection from McLaren off the track, but the team didn’t help him during the race, and Piastri has very little incentive to help him if his championship hopes are still alive.

Speaking to the media in his official post-race interview, Norris said: “Frustrating result, we didn’t get it right today, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

“There was obviously the opportunity to finish higher, but we’ll debrief as a team and come back stronger next week.

“We’ll now ensure our focus switches to Abu Dhabi and do what we can to deliver the best possible result next weekend.”

Norris will be immediately on the back foot in Abu Dhabi, as he has to give up his car to a rookie driver in FP1.

From that moment onwards, he needs to be at the top of his game to stop Verstappen and Piastri ruining his championship charge.