Nico Rosberg ‘surprised’ by ‘weird’ Lando Norris issue that could be his ‘downfall’ this year

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Lando Norris cruised to a third career victory at the Singapore Grand Prix last weekend. In doing so, he trimmed Max Verstappen’s championship lead heading into the final six rounds.

Norris entered qualifying as the overwhelming favourite for pole position after an ominous showing in practice. And he duly outpaced Verstappen by two-tenths to ensure he started at the front for the fifth time this year.

Remarkably, the McLaren driver had surrendered the lead on the first lap on the previous four occasions. But he made a clean getaway here and his chief rival was never able to mount a challenge.

In the end, Norris won by just under 21 seconds in one of the most dominant displays of the entire season. He virtually matched his victory margin at the Dutch GP last month.

Coming into the weekend, there was talk that the balance of power had shifted at McLaren following Oscar Piastri’s Azerbaijan triumph. But the Australian finished a whopping 42 seconds adrift of his teammate at Marina Bay.

Norris lapped 11 cars, almost reaching the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. He’s now 52 points behind Verstappen with six Grands Prix and three sprints to go.

Nico Rosberg worried about Lando Norris’ mistakes during the Singapore Grand Prix

Speaking to Sky after the race, Nico Rosberg commended Norris’ ‘huge speed’ but flagged up a recurring issue. The 24-year-old nearly crashed on two occasions even with an enormous buffer.

Shortly before his one and only pit stop, Norris locked up into turn 14 and grazed his front wing on the tyre wall. He survived the incident with only minor damage.

Later, he clipped the outside wall on the run into turn nine. As Rosberg pointed out, this was similar to the mistake that ended George Russell’s race in 2023.

Rosberg said it shouldn’t be so ‘difficult’ to bring the car home when a driver is ‘so far’ out in front. If Norris continues to make such mistakes, it could scupper his championship challenge.

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“It’s weird,” he said. “He’s so far in the lead and makes three mistakes. He kisses the wall twice. Both times it was so close that it’s completely over. Normally the front wing is broken and then the victory is gone, that was great luck.

“Then we see another moment where he hits the wall. Exactly the same as Russell last year, when he was out. One centimeter more, then the tire is in, buckles and then it’s over.

“Three times with a 30-second lead is unusual. If he wants to become world champion, he has to get rid of that, because then everything has to be right. I would like to say that it is not that difficult when you have this speed and a 30-second lead.

“You have to relax and bring the thing home, that is not the most difficult thing. Accordingly, I am a little surprised where that comes from.

“That is what we always see from him. Huge speed, but always small mistakes here and there. I don’t want that to be his downfall in the hunt for the world championship.”

Red Bull chief Helmut Marko makes ‘crazy’ Lando Norris admission

It should be said that the Singapore Grand Prix is one of the most demanding races of the year. It takes a physical and mental toll that few races can match.

Therefore, one or two lapses in concentration can be forgiven, especially when disaster is averted. Norris explained after the race that he was trying to build a pit-stop advantage.

Verstappen was stunned in the cooldown room as he watched the leader’s near-misses. He can be pleased with his damage limitation effort.

But Helmut Marko says Norris’ speed was ‘crazy’ and admits the deficit is ‘alarming’. He’s relieved that Red Bull now have the best part of four weeks to address their problems.