How the Austrian GP exposed Lando Norris' mentality

  Max Verstappen and Lando Norris are good friends off the track. The duo have shown massive respect for each other and Max has stated that Lando is his closest friend on the grid and that if he isn't the one winning, he wants it to be Lando.

  However, the friendship looks to be challenged in 2024 as it looks like the McLarens have managed to get their cars closer to the Red Bulls and challenge them for regular victories. 

A statement win in the Miami Grand Prix cemented McLaren as one of the top contenders on the grid and hinted at the possibility of challenging the juggernauts of Red Bull and Verstappen to end their reign at the top of the F1 food chain.

  The challenge would be constant throughout the year, with Norris being able to threaten Verstappen for the win in races such as Imola and Spain, though the threat would not be converted to a place on the top step of the podium.

 Lando Norris has made a reputation for himself to be somebody who cracks under pressure. In high pressure situations, he makes crucial mistakes that will discourse his race weekend in occasions such as the Qatar Sprint Shootout and Qualifying sessions where he would run wide and lose a chance of pole position for both the Sprint and race.

  For the Austrian Grand Prix, Lando looked to be a strong contender for victory. A strong history at the track including the iconic first podium that he snatched from Lewis Hamilton at the eleventh hour in the inaugural round of the 2020 season along with two podiums at the track in the following year.

  In the sprint, Lando would hook onto the rear wing of Max Verstappen for the opening few laps before launching an attack for the lead into turn 3 on lap 5. 

  Sending a dive-bomb would prove costly as he would run deep in the middle of the corner and allow Verstappen to reinstate the lead via an overtake down the inside of turn 4, his team-mate Oscar Piastri would also go through to take second place in the Sprint, where he would end up finishing. Lando described leaving the inside open for Verstappen in turn 4 as one of an "amateur". 

  However, that would only be a pinch of what was to come for the main event.

  Max Verstappen would line up in a familiar first place with Lando Norris lining up alongside. The usual poor start from the Brit allowed Verstappen to pull away at the front and gap Norris by 7 seconds.

  The race looked to be under wraps as another mundane Verstappen lights-to-flag victory, until Lap 52 where Red Bull mechanics cost Verstappen time in a slow 6.5 second pit-stop. The race was blown wide open for Norris, who would close a 3-second gap down to 1 and more crucially, within DRS. 

  Norris would attempt to launch an attack on Verstappen heading into turn 3 by braking late down the inside, but the Dutchman would block the attack accordingly. A manoeuvre that would frustrate Norris.

  A few laps later, the McLaren driver at the same corner would send another dive. This time, locking up the front-right and going wide, forcing him to cede the place back to Verstappen.

  The third time could be the charm for Lando, but instead he takes yet another desperate dive into turn 3, locking up his tyres again and forcing Verstappen off into the run-off in a Verstappen-esque move from 2019. However, Verstappen rejoined ahead of Norris and kept the lead, to which Norris did not take well. Complaining on the radio and demand that Verstappen cede the place. 

  Impatience and desperation was put on display from Lando as hopes of a second win seem to slowly run away from him.

  For his fourth attack, Max had already caught on to Lando's habit of going down the inside so he would position his car towards the middle of the track. When he realised Lando would not go there again, he began to veer his car towards the left hand side of the track where the racing line is, which appeared to be empty. 

  What Verstappen did not expect in that moment was for Lando to change his approach, braking late and opting to go to that side of the track. With Verstappen having already aimed his car left, the pair collided.

  Verstappen and Norris both sustained rear tyre punctures on the left and right respectively.

  For Verstappen, he was able to carry on and finish in fifth position in spite of a ten-second time penalty from the incident which the stewards deemed to be his fault. Norris would not be so lucky as the shredded tyre carved into the floor of his car, terminally damaging it.

  The post-race tension was the key talking point. When Lando was asked about the incident, he took no blame for it and said that the dynamic of their friendship could change if Max does not admit his wrongs, stating that "it will be over" if he doesn't.

  Max had a confused reaction to that statement. When asked about the incident, he said that as a racing driver, he has to give it his all to fight for a victory even if he has a comfortable gap in the standings. Displaying a merciless and competitive mentality.

  Lando would also say that Max's defending was desperate and he gave him a tough and fair fight that Max did not return. A bitter reaction from Lando caused many online to express their distaste to his rather egotistical mentality.

  For me, I think Lando was projecting himself onto Max. If anything, he was the more desperate driver when considering the divebombs he was attempting and would try and get Max to cede the position for him to gain the lead instead of actually overtaking the Dutchman.

  With all things considered, Lando is new to fighting for wins on a regular basis but with the way he's talking, you would think that he has more than one victory and Max less than 61.

  However, this race might be a learning curve for Lando, as he looks to settle into battling in high pressure situations on the regular whereas Max has been doing it for years on end. It can only get better from this poor display of mentality and racecraft.