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Lando Norris was left to rue his errors at the Belgian Grand Prix last year which proved costly in his title pursuit, and the McLaren star will hope for a better outcome this time around in Spa
Lando Norris knows exactly what he needs to do at the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend if he wants to become a Formula One world champion. The McLaren driver last year was left to rue his “stupid mistakes” at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, which dealt a huge blow to his 2024 title hopes.
This season, the 25-year-old finds himself embroiled in a more closely-fought battle with his team-mate Oscar Piastri in the drivers’ championship. Piastri’s 234 points means he holds a slender seven-point advantage over the Brit for now, though that deficit can quickly be overturned.
Norris will want to do just that after a disappointing finish to his race at Spa last year. He began the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix in fourth with his team-mate just behind, though he was still the favourite to win the race as championship-leader Verstappen received a ten-place grid penalty for exceeding his quota of internal combustion engine components.
However, Norris lost three places on the opening lap as he ran partially into the gravel on the first corner’s exit. Shortly afterwards, he botched a pass on Carlos Sainz.
Being trapped behind the Ferrari meant Norris was undercut by title rival Verstappen at the first stops. From there, the McLaren star had to chase the Red Bull to the finish, ending up just 0.6s down as Verstappen came up short of beating Ferrari’s polesitter, Charles Leclerc.
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes finished in first and second place, respectively, while Piastri finished third and Leclerc crossed the finish line in fourth. However, post-race checks revealed that Russell’s car was underweight, which sparked his disqualification and resulted in the other drivers moving up a place.
Still, fifth place behind Verstappen’s fourth marked a hugely disappointing end to the race and an opportunity missed to make up ground on the Dutchman – something Norris simply cannot afford to do again with his title battle with Piastri being so tight.
Norris was asked how much he needed a rest over the summer break immediately after the race, to which he replied: “I mean, we all needed it, but I think I just needed to reset.
“I’ve given away a lot of points over the last three, four races just because of stupid stuff – mistakes and bad starts, Turn 1 now. I don’t know why. It’s just silly things. It’s not even difficult stuff.
“It’s just… Turn 1, trying to stay out of trouble, trying to make sure there’s a gap and not get hit, and then I put myself off the track. Just some stupid things. The pace is good, the team are doing an amazing job so I’m happy.
“In a way I feel like I just don’t want to take a break – I just want to continue because we’re in good form. Even today I feel like the pace was very strong. The last two, three races I’ve just not clicked as much as I needed to and given up a lot of points, so hopefully I can come back strong.”
Discussing his costly La Source gravel-strike, Norris admitted he “just misjudged it, honestly”. He went on to add: “I just didn’t want to get taken out in Turn 1, so I left the gap and just misjudged the exit a little bit.”
Norris also opened up about the other mistakes which had caused big losses for the team. He sat on pole in Spain and Hungary but lost his position in Turn 1 and finished second in both races.
That proved important in him losing the championship to Verstappen, finishing 63 points behind the four-time champion in the drivers’ standings to miss out on his maiden title. Norris has won four races this year already, including the last two at the Red Bull Ring, Austria and Silverstone, Great Britain.
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