McLaren is doing well before the summer break, sitting second behind Red Bull in the Constructors.
Despite Lando Norris finishing behind Max Verstappen in Belgium, Karun Chandhok thinks McLaren should stay positive.
McLaren has been on the podium in the last two races, unlike Red Bull. This helped them score points and close the gap with the Austrian team. They also took advantage of Sergio Perez‘s recent performance. But since both McLaren and Red Bull drivers scored points in Belgium, the fight continues. In a video shared on Sky Sports F1’s X account, Chandhok explained why McLaren shouldn’t worry too much: “I think they’ll feel really optimistic about the next 10 races coming up,” he said.
What can Norris do to improve?
Oscar Piastri has been impressive lately. Even though Norris started on pole in Hungary, he couldn’t win like his teammate did. In Belgium, Piastri was on the podium again. Chandhok believes that without a pit stop error, Piastri could have won: “They’ve had a really strong run of form. I think Piastri is really starting to come good. If you look at the race he drove at Spa, he could have won that race.”
Meanwhile, Norris has faced some challenges, losing important points that could have narrowed his gap with Verstappen in the standings. “He looked very downbeat because he made a mistake on the opening lap and couldn’t recover,” Chandhok noted.
Fans might wonder if Norris can bounce back after these struggles.
Chandhok pointed out one key weakness for Norris: his starts and opening laps need improvement if he wants to reach the top spot. “We’ve seen it in Spain, China sprint race, Budapest – three times where Lando lost out at start and it cost him at end,” Chandhok concluded.
What do you think? Can Norris fix this over summer break?
