Peter Windsor uncovers one ‘great shame’ about Lando Norris in comparison to Max Verstappen

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Lando Norris took an impressive pole at the Red Bull Ring in what was one of the largest margins of the season.

The Briton was a full half a second quicker than rivals Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri, who qualified in second and third places respectively.

Norris has quipped that it was “nice to have the old me back” when he crossed the line as quickest in qualifying, in what will be a crucial race for his championship aspirations.

After putting his crash with Piastri in Canada behind him, Norris must now use the opportunity starting from pole to convert it into a victory and close in on the Australian’s title lead.

Analysing the pole lap from Norris on his YouTube channel, Peter Windsor uncovered one thing that he felt was a ‘great shame’ about the Briton.

Peter Windsor thinks it’s a ‘great shame’ Lando Norris doesn’t drive more like Max Verstappen

Norris showed tremendous commitment during his lap around the Red Bull Ring, which was four tenths faster than last year’s pole set by Max Verstappen.

Karun Chandhok felt Norris had the edge at Turn 9, where he was downshifting more aggressively than Piastri and Leclerc.

Windsor thinks his style of driving lends itself to the track, but is disappointed Norris does not show similar Verstappen-esque skill at other circuits.

“He [Norris] drives with the front of the car more than Oscar, and his inputs are so subtle that it’s a great shame that he hasn’t exploited those more like the way Max and Charles Leclerc drive,” said Windsor.

Lando Norris has won every race he has started from pole so far in 2025

It is set to be a close race between Norris and Piastri after the pair chose split strategies in practice, running on the medium and hard tyre.

Piastri’s laps on the hard tyre were not far off what Norris was doing when he topped every practice session on the medium, meaning we could see differing strategies play a role in how the race will pan out between the pair.

One stat that will work in Norris’ favour is that he has not yet lost a race when starting from pole, having converted all of his poles so far this year into victories.

It would be the perfect response for Norris after he crashed into Piastri in Canada, having owned up to being the cause of the collision instantly over team radio.