The accident of Lando Norris during the Canadian Grand Prix brought about a lot of concern over his mental state when he is put under pressure. Nico Rosberg was prompt to point out this matter and label misjudgment by Norris with team-mate Oscar Piastri as such an act that displays mental fragility. To my mind, Rosberg is very correct. On numerous occasions, Norris has demonstrated speed, but when the moment frowns upon him, errors creep in his game and counts against him.
Last weekend was the ideal illustration. Norris entered the race with one of the fastest machines in the grid but still he could not finish it in the front row when it mattered most. There were many errors during the qualifying on Saturday. Indeed, Rosberg himself understood two important missteps, one in Turn 7 when Norris touched the wall and after that in the last corner of his final lap. Norris instead would line up in P7 on the grid in place of starting at the sharp end. That could not have been good enough in a driver of serious ambitions.
Then on Sunday the race. The move during Turn 1 on the outside of Piastri by Norris was not easy enough as it appeared promising only. Afterwards Norris admitted, he thought Oscar was a little too far to the right. That left me with a chance that was pretty small left. However, to be frank, it was just much too risky, particularly on my team-mate.” The outcome could be foreseen. Contact destroyed Norris front wing and suspension and prevented him completing the race. Piastri was fortunate to go on.
This is the sort of the mistake Rosberg reckoned when talking about the troubles of Norris under pressure. It is becoming a trend. Whenever the limelight falls on him, little errors do sneak in, and it is these small errors that separate the winning team and the team that lose in Formula one. Rosberg also noted that Norris was one of the fastest cars on all weekend, so his missteps are even more impossible to ignore.
As a sports editor, I observe that these instances will characterize the career of a driver. There is no doubt about the talent of Norris. However, talent needs to be followed with composure, more so in a game where there is barely any margin of error. Entering Canada, Norris was on 10 points behind Piastri. At the weekend, this led to a 22-point lead. There is momentum in F1, and Norris lost it in Montreal.
However, that is not the end of the world. The year is a long one and so is McLaren a competitor. The thing that Norris needs to do is to get mentally back on course and concentrate on consistency. Handling risks especially near team-mates will be a long way in restoring his confidence. Assuming that he manages to eliminate these mistakes, he will be in a good position to proceed with the remainder of the season.
And to do that, Norris must address the problem that Rosberg cited: his psychological weakness dealing with pressure. This happens to every leading driver. The big ones admit it, they take it as a lesson, and are back and better. The clock is ticking, but Norris does not run out of time yet. The following couple of races will reveal whether he will manage to cope with the pressure or make these errors serve him down the road.
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