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After terming Lando Norris "mentally weak", Red Bull senior member Helmut Marko has now stated that McLaren might not be "mature enough" to win the title. The 2024 F1 season started on a positive note for the Austrian team, as it appeared that the advantage the squad had in 2023 had carried over into this season.
Though Max Verstappen established a lead, early in the championship, winning four of the first five races, McLaren's major upgrade in Miami changed the trajectory of the season.
Heading into the last six races of the season, the gap between Norris in P2 and Verstappen is now 52 points. While the gap in driver's standings is still quite big, McLaren has taken over as the best car on the grid. Red Bull, on the other hand, has struggled to put performance on the car and make significant improvements.
Parallels have been drawn with what happened in 2009 when Jenson Button in his Brawn GP made the most of the car advantage early in the year and then just managed that lead against the Sebastian Vettel-Red Bull pair until he won the title eventually. Verstappen is doing something similar this season against the Lando Norris-McLaren combination.
When questioned if he sees the parallels with the 2009 F1 season, Marko felt that there was certainly a case. He pointed out how Red Bull was not mature enough to win the title then, just like McLaren is not to win it this season. He told OE24,
"You can compare that. Back then, we weren't mature enough as a team to win the World Championship. McLaren is in a similar situation now, although they recently had the best car and a strong driver pairing in Norris and Piastri."
He added,
"We are clearly on an upward trend. However, I have to admit: We have recently had the same problems as Ferrari and Mercedes: sometimes it works, then it doesn't, although we don't know why that is. McLaren is consistently fast. But they probably waited too long to make a clear commitment to Norris. So he is still far behind Max, who we hope will now be able to give a car that he has more confidence in. Our technicians have new parts and are optimistic."
McLaren's Lando Norris not as mentally strong as Max Verstappen
Helmut Marko had said that Max Verstappen would be the favorite to win the title this year as Lando Norris "is also not the strongest in the head". When questioned in his latest interview, the Austrian reiterated that thought as he said:
"Because he is the best mentally and as a driver. Norris has a weak start and he is also not the strongest in the head. The pressure increases with each race because in reality he has to win every time to make up the deficit. That makes it easier for Max to defend himself. And with Austin and a week later in Mexico, there are two courses that suit him really well."
Lando Norris has been quite public with his mental struggles in the past as well. The McLaren driver has openly said that he's had help when it comes to the mental aspect of the sport and how it has helped him as well.
Going into the last six races of the season, the driver is chasing down Max Verstappen and has a lead of 52 points to eat into. The first couple of races in the US and Mexico are surely going to be interesting and will set the tone for the title fight.
