Helmut Marko critical of Lando Norris after his recent underperformance

Before the Belgian Grand Prix, Lando Norris had the opportunity to catch up with Max Verstappen in the standings, as he currently occupies second place. The Dutch driver, who had received a grid penalty for an engine change, nevertheless finished the race ahead at Spa-Francorchamps.

A missed opportunity to earn points

In the driver standings, it is the Dutch driver who is leading the way. For the fourth year in a row, Max Verstappen has shown solid performances as he won the majority of the Grand Prix races in 2023. One of the Grand Prix races he did not win, however, was the Singapore Grand Prix, which was won by Carlos Sainz. It was one of the rare occasions when another driver was able to take the lead in the race.

At Spa-Francorchamps, a new opportunity arose for the drivers’ grid. While Max Verstappen had already changed his engine four times since the start of the season, he had to change it a fifth time, exceeding the limit allowed by the FIA. This breach of the rules resulted in a 10-place grid penalty for him. He started in eleventh position while Lando Norris started in fourth. It was the perfect opportunity for the British driver to gain some points on his rival.

However, Max Verstappen not only managed to maintain his lead over Lando Norris, but he even scored more points than him. From the start of the race, the McLaren driver went off track, losing three positions compared to his initial position. The Dutch driver, who had also tried the undercut strategy, succeeded as he moved ahead of Lando Norris. The Grand Prix ended with Max Verstappen in fourth position, followed by Lando Norris in fifth.

Helmut Marko, advisor at Red Bull, did not hesitate to openly criticize the McLaren driver on his performance. “The fact that Max was able to keep Norris behind him is a fantastic performance,” Marko told Sky Germany. “From what I saw, Norris went off track twice. The second half of the season looks very difficult for him.”

Below-par performances compared to his teammate.

Helmut Marko, known for his strong opinions, emphasized that Norris’ teammate seemed to be more performing than him so far. “I do not know exactly the points gap between the two McLaren drivers, but it seems that Oscar is mentally stronger,” he declared, as reported by Racing News 365. Piastri has gradually closed the gap with Lando and is sometimes even faster. “We will see how this evolves,” he concluded.

These remarks also echo internal discussions taking place within McLaren. The team’s director, Zak Brown, previously announced that the team would take advantage of the summer break to determine whether one of the two should be designated as the lead driver to fight more effectively against Verstappen.

For now, no additional information has been provided by McLaren or the drivers themselves. So we’ll have to wait until the end of the summer break to hope to see the strategy of the British team take shape.