Norris Faces More Criticism After Eddie Jordan's Tough Verdict

Friday, 15 November 2024 at 22:00

Former F1 driver Martin Donnelly agreed with Eddie Jordan's verdict on Lando Norris and his title chances as he explained why Max Verstappen is better at the moment.

Former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan issued a tough verdict on McLaren Racing F1 driver Lando Norris following the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

In this race, Norris started from the pole position and finished in P6, while his Championship rival Max Verstappen started from P17 and won the Grand Prix more than 19 seconds ahead of everyone.

The race in Brazil most likely decided the Championship as the Red Bull Racing driver increased his lead to 62 points with only three race weekends to go.

Speaking about the Championship battle, Eddie Jordan asserted the title will be in the right hands as he hasn't seen anything from Norris that would convince him that the Mclaren driver is on par with Verstappen.

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Speaking to RacingNews365, former F1 driver Martin Donnelly agreed with Jordan's verdict as he explained his point of view:

"That wasn't the car, that was Max. As Eddie Jordan said, he didn't see anything from Lando at Interlagos that convinced him that Lando is going to be a great world champion."

On the one hand, Donelly believes that Norris can be a World Champion one day, even with his current level of performance. On the other hand, he stated he won't be "brilliant" like Max Verstappen and a few others.

"He'll be a world champion one day, but not a great champion. Drives like Max produced, you're born with that. You don't learn that."

"He said that Lando needs to take a good, hard look at himself in the mirror and analyze how he can get into the performance that Max produced on that Sunday."

"Because there are great drivers, and there are brilliant drivers. Brilliant drivers in my book were [Ayrton] Senna, [and Michael] Schumacher. [Fernando] Alonso is still there. He proved with the right car, he can put it towards the front."

"That's what Lando needs to look at over the course of the winter months because if he doesn't catch it soon and cop on to it, Max, in the wet conditions, will just turn around [and say] 'Put me at the back of the grid. Don't worry. I'll bide my time and work my way towards the front because I know behind the wheel I'm the best out there."