Zak Brown told what he should have said to Lando Norris after ‘lucky’ Max Verstappen comments

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Lando Norris’ hopes of winning the 2024 Formula 1 title were all but dashed by Max Verstappen at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The Dutchman produced a sensational drive through the field from 17th on the grid to take victory and put 62 points between him and Norris with three races to go. The Red Bull driver’s eighth win of the season at Interlagos came on a weekend that was shrouded by torrential race and several incidents.

It had initially looked like Norris would ignite his bid to win the title as he won the Sprint race on Saturday. Verstappen was hit with a penalty after a virtual safety car infringement and dropped to fourth, and his five-place grid penalty for a change of ICE left him 17th for the race after he was eliminated from Q2 in qualifying.

Starting pole position, Norris lost the lead off the start to George Russell and could only get past the Mercedes after the pair came in for a fresh set of intermediates.

Verstappen climbed to 10th by lap three and was between the two Alpines when Norris and Russell came into the pits. Verstappen, Ocon and Gasly gambled by staying out on track, which would pay off as the session was red flagged after a huge crash for Franco Colapinto.

Changing his tyres during the red flag, Verstappen eventually passed Ocon for the lead after the second restart following Carlos Sainz’s spin into the barriers. The Dutchman stormed off into the distance to take the win and put one hand firmly on his fourth world championship.

Zak Brown should have told Lando Norris to ‘learn’ from Max Verstappen’s onboards in Sao Paulo

Speaking on the Cameron Cc YouTube channel, Peter Windsor outlined what Zak Brown should have said to Norris following his comments about Verstappen’s victory.

Norris ultimately finished the race sixth due to the red flag and a few errors from the McLaren driver that saw him run off the track. Naomi Schiff called out McLaren for missing yet more opportunities to score points and close the gap to Verstappen.

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

Norris believed that Russell deserved to win the race, labelling Verstappen’s victory as ‘lucky’ after the race due to the red flag. And Windsor was left disappointed by the fact that Brown did not tell his driver how good the Dutchman was and that he should look at his onboards of his brilliant overtakes and driving to ‘learn lessons’ from his rival.

“The only thing I think is a bit disappointing is that, as Zak Brown, and I suppose you could never rely on a Stella doing this, but a Zak Brown doesn’t say to Lando: ‘wow, Max was unbelievable today,” he said.

“We need to go and watch the videos, there’s a few things we can do there that Max was doing. We’ll get it right next time Lando, you drove really well mate. Don’t go thinking this was a lucky win because it wasn’t. We don’t want to go down that path.

“We’re all racers here, we’re all big boys and I know you can be world champion. It’s going to happen, but we need to learn a few lessons from Max today.’ That’s what I imagine a Zak Brown would say because he’s a racer.

“He kind of understands life, I think. But obviously, no one was saying that to Lando when he got out of the car, it’s what I would have said to him if I was close to him.”

Are Lando Norris’ hopes of winning the title all but over?

With Verstappen’s victory and Norris dropping points at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, all the Dutchman has to do is finish ahead of the Brit to secure his fourth consecutive title at Las Vegas.

It is possible that Norris could match or even beat Verstappen with there being 86 points still up for grabs, but the McLaren driver would still have to outscore the Dutchman by a substantial margin to keep his title hopes alive after Las Vegas.

Helmut Marko took a dig at Norris after Verstappen showed he is a ‘real champion’ in Sao Paulo. Norris’ mistakes and McLaren’s decision to pit him for fresh tyres proven to be yet more missed opportunities that the Woking-based outfit have continued to not take throughout 2024.

McLaren still have a good chance of winning the Constructors’ Championship as they sit 36 points ahead of Ferrari and 49 in front of Red Bull.