Sky Sports F1's Anthony Davidson believes Lando Norris' poor starts to races are a cause for concern for McLaren; They are in the hunt for the Constructor's Championship and trails Max Verstappen by 70 points; watch Italian Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 this weekend
Thursday 29 August 2024 08:09, UK
So far in 2024 Lando Norris is having a season to remember, picking up his first ever wins in Formula 1 and putting his team in the hunt for the Constructor's Championship. However, there is a cause for concern for his team - their starts to races.
Along with his wins at the Miami and Dutch GPs, Norris has suffered a series of 'what ifs', a lot of those coming down to his poor starts, especially from pole.
He has lost out at lights out to Lewis Hamilton in the China Sprint, Max Verstappen and George Russell in the Spanish GP, Oscar Piastri in the Hungarian GP, and, most recently, at Zandvoort, Verstappen again despite recovering to pick up victory.
Norris, who is 70 points behind Verstappen in the championship ahead of this weekend's Italian Grand Prix, said he had been working on his weaknesses over F1's summer break, including his starts, and Zandvoort was a chance to prove his efforts had paid off.
However, he was comfortably jumped by Verstappen off the line, so there will still be an element of doubt about his future starts, which Sky Sports F1's Anthony Davidson believes is a "chink in the armour" for McLaren.
"Obviously, different teams take on the starts differently," said Davidson.
"Riding on board with Lando, it looked like he had his throttle position in the right place (at Zandvoort). The initial launch, it looked like the initial getaway was ok, so it means that driver procedure was okay for those two factors.
"But then it seemed to go wrong once he shifted into second gear and you start to apply more throttle and by that point of course you're you've fully released the clutch. So, it is somewhere in that area I think it keeps going wrong for McLaren and Lando.
"But in that particular race, he did get, I would say, if anything, a slightly better start than Piastri.
"I think that race, because you had such a variant of conditions and the lack of time to make a decision what you do with all of this software behind the scenes, that's what makes it difficult for the teams to really perfect the start.
"But with all that aside, it does seem to be a little bit of a chink in the armour for McLaren. And if you're going to fight a team like Red Bull for the championship through to the end of the year, you're going to need to damn well make sure you perfect as many things as you can.
"They have got great pit stops, great speed, great reliability, two great drivers, loads of ticks of the boxes.
"The start is the thing that keeps raising an eyebrow or two, not just for us watching, but probably from the team as well. And if they can get that right, then you're going to solidify.
"This amazing job that the team keep doing in qualifying by managing to out-qualify Max Verstappen in the Red Bull, it's an amazing achievement. You can't afford to keep throwing that achievement away."
McLaren are only 30 points behind Red Bull with nine events remaining this season in the Constructors' Championship.
With Verstappen now winless in his last five races in 2024, and teams like Mercedes going well at certain circuits, the season is up in the air, with McLaren arguably favourites to win the Constructor's Championship.
" I completely agree with that McLaren, they have the best car at the moment. It's clear to see," added Davidson.
"And yes, it will ebb and flow on different circuits. Who knows, Ferrari might be the fastest car around Singapore and circuits like that, or Mexico.
"It's exciting because it's not just Red Bull running away with it again, like they have done the last couple of seasons.
"And it's not just one team that are possibly able to challenge them once in a while. You can have Mercedes dominating a race like we saw in Silverstone and how fast they were in Spa.
"It's so exciting. I haven't known a season in F1 like this where it's so up and down in terms of the performance of different cars.
"The McLaren seems to be the most benign. You can take it anywhere. It's always going to be there or thereabouts. But it wasn't the shiny car in Spa that it looked like in Budapest or Zandvoort.
"The thing I love about this season now is that it's so up in the air.
"This is a great fight now between McLaren and Red Bull. Red Bull clearly aren't in the same position as they were last year. And we still have circuits like Singapore coming up where they found it difficult enough last year anyway with the dominant car.
"So, wow, I can't imagine what the rest of this season is gonna bring."
Thursday August 29
2pm: Drivers' Press Conference
Friday August 30
8.30am: F3 Practice
9.55am: F2 Practice
12pm: Italian GP Practice One (session starts 12.30am)
1.55pm: F3 Qualifying
2.50pm: F2 Qualifying
3.45pm: Italian GP Practice Two (session starts 4pm)
5.15pm: The F1 Show
Saturday August 31
8.25am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Italian GP Practice Three (session starts 11.30am)
1.10pm: F2 Sprint
2.15pm: Italian GP Qualifying build-up
3pm: ITALIAN GP QUALIFYING*
5pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook
Sunday September 1
7:30am: F3 Feature Race
9am: F2 Feature Race
11am: Porsche Supercup
12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Italian GP build-up
2pm: The ITALIAN GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag: Italian GP reaction
5pm: Ted's Notebook
*also live on Sky Sports Main Event
The 2024 Formula 1 season continues with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership. No contract, cancel anytime
