Karun Chandhok has picked out two key incidents where Land Norris fell short as Formula 1 title rival Max Verstappen “did his job properly”.
The Dutchman is on the cusp of being confirmed as a four-time F1 champion. He is 62 points ahead of Norris in the drivers’ championship and can seal his success next time out at the Las Vegas Grand Prix if he finishes ahead of the Brit.
Norris had been closing in on Verstappen but everything unravelled in Brazil earlier this month. The McLaren driver had qualified on pole while his rival was way down the grid in 17th, but the Red Bull racer produced one of the best drives of his F1 career – aided by the lucky timing of a safety car – to win in the Sao Paulo rain.
Speaking to Mirror Sport , however, Sky Sports F1 pundit Chandhok recalled two other key battles between them as he explained where he felt Norris and his team had fallen short. The first was the Austrian Grand Prix, where they collided while fighting for the win and gifted victory to George Russell.
“I think Austria was an interesting case where Max pushed the boundaries and Lando perhaps did not expect him to push the boundaries in that same way,” Chandhok said. “There was no doubt Max squeezed Lando, but it was a move that he has done before with Carlos Sainz a year before, but Sainz was wise to it and realises that Max races in an uncompromising way.
“You have to pre-empt that and you have to have your wits about you. So I think, in that case, Lando could have moved left where there was space and he would have passed him probably into turn four and won that race as he had more speed.”
Chandhok, who raced 11 times during a brief F1 career with HRT and Team Lotus, also picked out the United States Grand Prix. The title contenders duelled furiously and Verstappen was accused of running Norris off the road, but the Brit was the one penalised for overtaking off track, after his McLaren team advised him against giving the place back as they claimed he had been ahead of the Red Bull at the apex of the corner.
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