Peter Windsor explains David Coulthard trait that ‘worries’ him about Lando Norris

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Lando Norris caused controversy during the Hungarian Grand Prix when he appeared to ignore direct orders by his McLaren team.

After prioritising him in the final rounds of pit stops to cover off Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, Norris was emerged ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri.

The team then instructed him to give the position back, however, the Briton was reluctant to do so initially which caused his McLaren engineer to plea over the team radio.

Although Nico Rosberg compared the saga to his days at Mercedes, Peter Windsor said it reminded him of an episode with David Coulthard during the 1998 Australian Grand Prix when speaking on the Cameron F1 podcast.

Peter Windsor makes David Coulthard comparison to Lando Norris

Prior to the race, Coulthard and teammate Mika Hakkinen had an agreement in place that dictated whoever emerged from the first corner first, would be given priority to win the race.

Hakkinnen was embroiled in a title battle with Michael Schumacher at the time, which led to him often getting priority from McLaren to maximise their chances.

Windsor drew a comparison to Coulthard and Norris, suggesting the latter could come to regret not winning the race in future.

“The nearest I can think of that is close to what Lando did is that 1998 Australian Grand Prix when David Coulthard did the same for Mika Haikkinen because Mika had misheard a pit instruction and came into the pits when he didn’t need to,” said Windsor.

“David, the ultimate gentleman, stuck by their agreement that whoever led into the first corner first should win the race and let him past. I don’t think David ever really recovered from that.

“You think of how fast Coulthard was against Michael Schumacher and yet he never won a championship. I think that knocked the wind out of him doing that. Part of it is that McLaren or Mika never really said thank you. And that’s what worries me about this Lando Norris situation.”

Lando Norris adds to tally of nearly wins

It was the fifth occasion in a row that Norris nearly took his second Grand Prix victory, having lost out in Canada, Spain, Austria and Silverstone.

Norris is the priority for McLaren in the Drivers’ Championship sitting in second place just 76 points behind Max Verstappen, but there is talk of whether the Briton has what it takes to win titles.

Windsor has said that he felt it was ‘outrageous’ that Norris decided to throw away the race win given his status within the championship, while former F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve said that it might pose an issue for the McLaren at the end of the season.

Former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley explained how he thinks the ex-McLaren boss Ron Dennis would have dealt with the situation.