With the Miami race many things changed in F.1. Adrian Newey left the Red Bull pit wall and the embarrassing superiority abandoned the RB20, which has remained a top single-seater ever since but is no longer by far the best of the Circus. On the other hand, the McLaren has reasonably become the queen car of the lot, even if by a little, very little, but in a constant way.
Enough to win in Miami, after almost a year and a half of chasing, thanks to a lucky Safety car, which took away from Norris the burden of having to overtake Verstappen in the race, effectively putting him in a position to win by focusing purely on better step, without having to overcome direct comparison.
Well, that’s the problem. Because in Miami Norris won, but from then on never again.
Norris has the right car, so…
For a simple reason. Because Norris as of today, written just after the sprint race in Austria, is simply not bad enough and incisive enough to beat Verstappen.
Even in Imola he had only managed to tickle him, in the final. Even in Spain he had burned him in qualifying but then starting from pole he made a bad start, slipping into third at the first corner, managing a long and fruitless chase that brought him to just over two seconds from Max in the final, without actually managing to challenge him.
Even worse in Austria, where in the first laps of the Sprint Race Lando had much more, with the McLaren superior to the Red Bull (not by chance the second MCL38 was third in the slipstream, while the second RB20 was lost in the middle of the group), and yet once the overtaking had been made, Lando then incredibly widened to the left at the entrance to a right-handed crease, allowing not only the fabulous Max to pass again but also his teammate Piastri to pass him, sharply and definitively.
Self-criticism is nice, but…
At the end of the race Lando defined himself as “an amateur”, for the naivety he committed, after having admitted having made a mistake in Spain too. Optimal, self-criticism is always a good first step, but this situation must stop. For the good of McLaren, its first driver and the world championship itself, Lando must wake up. The MCL38 is the top car, if it had a cloned Verstappen in the cockpit, against Red Bull’s Max N.1, the orange-papaya car would win them all.
So it makes me more and more angry to continue. Norris must wake up, McLaren must be more incisive and aggressive in its tactics – not like in Spain, when on lap 48 it remained on the track, losing two seconds to Max himself due to worn tires – and Piastri must also be used as a functional driver to beat the no. 1, not as an annoyance for Norris himself and that’s it…
Pinch yourself
In short, out of respect for this world championship, Lando must really wake up and McLaren, equally, must convince themselves that it is not enough to create the best single-seater in the championship and make it so, but it is also necessary to ruthlessly and aggressively manage this infinitesimal superiority on the track.
Otherwise, compared to last year, the amazing Max on the weakened RB20, despite risking losing every time, will win all the races by a whisker. Norris & C., please, take your arm off, take a few more risks, you and McLaren, and pinch yourselves and open your eyes.
