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MCLAREN’S Lando Norris took a commanding victory at the Dutch Grand Prix to cut Max Verstappen’s lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship to 70 points with nine races to go.
BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson answers your questions following the race at Zandvoort.
How realistic do you think Lando Norris’ chances are of clearing the 70-point deficit to win the Championship? I personally think it’s impossible. Damian
Lando Norris said after winning the Dutch Grand Prix that it was “pretty stupid” to think right now about beating Max Verstappen to the Championship and that he was just going to focus on each race as it comes.
It’s a long-shot, of course, with a 70-point deficit and only nine races to go, as well as three ‘sprint’ events. But if Norris keeps driving as he did in Zandvoort, it’s do-able. Just.
To make it happen, Norris needs to keep beating Verstappen himself, and also ideally for others to start doing so as well. And for Verstappen to have a bad race or two – which, with Singapore coming up, where Red Bull struggled last year, is definitely possible.
Norris and McLaren have a few things to iron out – especially starts and first laps. Norris has already potentially lost two race wins at the start this year, in Spain and Hungary, and although he managed to re-pass Verstappen after losing out again in Zandvoort, he can’t count on doing that every time.
Both Norris and McLaren team principal Andrea Stella addressed the issue of McLaren’s starts after the Dutch Grand Prix.
Both drivers lost places off the line, and Norris and Oscar Piastri seemed to start almost in unison, which suggests a car/systems issue in this case rather than a driver one.
Stella and Norris both accept things need to improve. Norris said: “Again, it was a race which almost slipped away off the line, but today was, again, different to every other thing that’s happened.
“So, kind of like I said before the weekend, we need to find a bit more consistency, but we’ve worked on it and I feel like I’ve done better procedurally (this time), but obviously didn’t turn into the correct thing.”
Stella said: “The start is such a fundamental element to go racing. It is as important as car performance. And we do have to look very carefully into the details about why our competitor seems to gain a little bit on us.
“Statistically over the course of the season, we are competitive from a launch point of view but we see that there are some cars – like Verstappen, for instance – who seem to be performing very well at the start. And if you can capitalise a good qualifying performance with a good start, it makes your life so much easier.
“So we definitely we have to look into this. And this comes from the driver in terms of their launch procedure execution, and it comes from a team point of view because there some aspects that are under the team’s control. And we need to look into what kind of optimisation we are able to do.”
Is it over for Logan Sargeant? Max
Logan Sargeant’s time at Williams, and in Formula 1, does indeed look to be coming to an end – and he might have already driven in his last race.
The heavy crash the American had in practice at the Dutch Grand Prix seems to have been the last straw for Williams team principal James Vowles. After it, Vowles went to speak to Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff and Red Bull’s Christian Horner about the availability of some of the drivers on their roster.
At Mercedes, that means either their protege Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who is expected to replace Lewis Hamilton in Formula 1 next season, or Mick Schumacher, the former Haas driver who is now Mercedes reserve.
At Red Bull, it means Liam Lawson, their reserve, who did five races as a substitute for the injured Daniel Ricciardo last year.
Wolff has ruled out Antonelli, saying the “best thing” for the Italian, who will drive for Mercedes in first practice in Monza this weekend, is to continue with the test programme Mercedes have laid out for him as they prepare him for F1, “rather than disrupting the plan and giving him the opportunity with Williams. And that’s the decision we have taken”.
Wolff would like Schumacher to get the seat. The German lost his place in F1 after two unconvincing years with Haas, which included a lot of accidents.
But Wolff said: “I would very much hope Mick gets the chance because we haven’t seen the real Mick (in F1). You are not winning F4, F3 and F2 and then underperforming in F1.
“He deserves a chance and if the opportunity would appear at Williams, it is something we would be cheering for. But it is James Vowles’ decision.”
Lawson’s availability is complicated by the uncertainty over Red Bull’s own driver line-up.
Sergio Perez is not secure in the senior team – he had another lacklustre race on Sunday – and neither is Ricciardo at RB. Either could be replaced by Lawson before the end of the season, so Horner may not be keen to release the New Zealander for all of the remaining races.
Franco Colapinto, who is on the Williams development programme and is racing in Formula 2 this year, is another name who has been mentioned but is considered an outside bet.
Which team is most likely to snap up the services of Adrian Newey next year, or will Newey himself have a preference in late stages of his career? Srinivasan
This is one of the most interesting topics in F1 – and one of the most uncertain.
When Newey announced he was leaving Red Bull, a number of teams seemed to be in the running to sign him. But these have gradually fallen by the wayside.
First, it became clear that Ferrari was not going to happen. Then McLaren Racing chief executive officer Zak Brown said they were not going to take him.
Aston Martin have made him an offer, which Newey is evaluating. Williams, where Newey achieved his first successes in F1 from 1991-96, have expressed their interest. And Alpine have now entered the race.
Newey is said to have had pretty extensive talks with Alpine executive adviser Flavio Briatore.
The 65-year-old is still believed to be evaluating his options.
Why isn’t the Dutch GP instantly sold out? It’s way cheaper than Silverstone and the party has been non-stop all weekend. Dan
The official attendance across the weekend of the Dutch Grand Prix this year was 305,000, the same as last year.
The race is very popular with Dutch fans – it is, as you say, reminiscent of a race in the middle of an all-day beach party, with house music playing throughout. But the inclement weather – rain and high winds – seemed to affect attendance on Frday and Saturday.
It is on the calendar for 2025. But there is a concern as to whether interest can continue to be sustained. And there is talk of the event being rotated with other races in the future.
This could be Barcelona, which has lost its place from 2026 to the new race in Madrid. Or perhaps Imola, which is a target to be dropped as the second race in Italy.
The Belgian Grand Prix, which had previously been considered a candidate for rotation, is aiming for a new long-term contract – four of five years – contingent on improvements being made in infrastructure and traffic management.
Why can’t they give three points for the fastest lap or even five points? Would be more exciting and interesting? Steve
F1 is always thinking about potential changes to the sport to make it more interesting, but these are balanced against a desire not to pollute the sport’s fundamental essence and spirit.
The point for fastest lap was controversial when it was introduced, and remains so to an extent. It can be a key part of the race – Lando Norris made quite a statement by completing it on tyres that were 43 laps old on Sunday, and it could be important in the championship.
At the same time, it is also open to being ‘gamed’ by a top team which has a big lead over a car behind, so can make a ‘free’ pit stop with a driver towards the end to bag the point.
The feeling is that one point for it is OK, but to give more would be a bit too “showbizzy”.
Would F1 consider moving away from the FIA and in particular their stewarding of races? Some of the penalties given are erratic at best. Paul
Relations between F1 – basically, commercial rights holders Liberty Media – and the FIA, the sport’s governing body, have been rocky in recent years.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is a controversial figure and F1 have certainly not been happy about some of the situations surrounding the FIA in recent times.
These include the emergence of historic misogynistic remarks by Sulayem, his interference in various rules issues, allegations of manipulating races – of which he has been cleared by an FIA investigation – and the conflict of interest inquiry that the briefly FIA launched into Toto and Susie Wolff late last year. Susie Wolff, director of the F1 Academy, has launched a legal action against the FIA over that, and that case is ongoing.
There have definitely been times in the last few years when Liberty has considered the idea of going it alone without the FIA.
This would be complicated, though, because the FIA owns the rights to the F1 world championship; Liberty merely lease them. A breakaway would mean a new name, for starters.
But relations have thawed in recent months and at the moment the two organisations are rubbing along reasonably well.
They are working together to fine-tune the 2026 rules, for example, about which the teams immediately expressed concerns when the FIA published them in June.
bbcsport
A.I
Aug. 27, 2024
Tags: Andrew Benson Lando Norris
