McLaren urged to ‘make the call’ on Oscar Piastri support role to mistake-prone Lando Norris

Does Lando Norris need the right mindset to realise his potential in F1?

Lando Norris won’t win this year’s World title because he makes “too many mistakes”, but that doesn’t mean McLaren should not throw their full support behind him on the off chance he can beat Max Verstappen.

This season, for the first time in more than a decade, McLaren are mathematically in the race for the World title, and with both Norris and Oscar Piastri.

McLaren urged to throw full support behind Lando Norris

With eight race weekends remaining, three of which are Sprints, there are 238 points in play and Verstappen’s lead is 62 points up on Norris with Piastri a further 44 behind.

It’s a long shot, but it’s a better shot than McLaren have had in previous years.

And yet the Woking team surprised rival team bosses and pundits alike when they refused to use team orders at the Italian Grand Prix to favour Norris.

Although team boss Andrea Stella later admitted the Briton is in “the best position from a numbers point of view” to challenge the reigning World Champion, McLaren allowed Piastri to take three points away from his team-mate.

Van der Garde says that cannot happen again.

“Zak Brown must now make this call. He must say internally: now we have the chance. There are eight more races, and this is the chance to become champion,” the former F1 driver told DRS: The Race Show.

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But is it a pointless endeavour?

However, even if McLaren do just that, Van der Garde reckons Verstappen will still win this year’s Drivers’ title.

Betting on the Dutchman with his 62-point lead and wealth of experience in wrapping up championships, the former F1 driver reckons Norris has made too mistakes this season and will continue to make more in the final races.

“That won’t work, it really won’t work,” he continued. “They’ll make too many mistakes. Norris will also make too many mistakes.

“They’ll win the Constructors’ Championship, but Norris won’t become World Champion.

“Max Verstappen will become World Champion this season, purely and simply because he has the experience and talent to achieve that. Norris has never been a World Champion.

“Oscar Piastri will have a really hard time becoming champion this year, but Norris does have a chance. This year Norris has the best credentials to make it difficult for Max.

“If it really comes down to the last race, and he has to pull out all the stops, then Max will win one hundred per cent.”

McLaren have a realistic chance of winning the teams’ trophy having closed the gap to Red Bull to just eight points with their double podium at Monza.

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