Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve suggests Lando Norris is burdened by excessive self-imposed pressure, citing his qualifying performance relative to McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as evidence.
Despite McLaren dominating practice sessions with 1-2 finishes, the qualifying session saw a different outcome. While Piastri secured pole position, Norris could only manage fourth place, failing to improve his time on his final attempt.
Following his win in Australia, Piastri has outperformed Norris in qualifying at four of the subsequent six events. As they headed into the Imola race, Piastri held a 16-point lead over his teammate in the Drivers` Championship standings.
Villeneuve commented: “He`s consistently demonstrated his speed throughout the season and often holds a slight edge over his teammate, Piastri. However, when it truly matters, he seems to falter. It appears he puts himself under too much pressure, which hinders his performance.”
Villeneuve elaborated: “He loses his natural rhythm. When that happens while driving, you lose fractions of a second here and there, the pressure mounts, and you start making errors.”
Piastri`s current qualifying form marks a significant reversal from the previous season, where Norris held a dominant 21-3 record against him in head-to-head qualifying battles.
Villeneuve concluded: “Last year, Lando was the stronger qualifier for the team. Now, Lando seems to struggle under pressure, while Piastri appears to elevate his performance. Being beaten in qualifying multiple times, which used to be his strength, is clearly starting to impact him.”
Chadwick: Hope Lando Doesn`t Have a Q3 Complex
Norris has recently stated that he believes the characteristics of McLaren`s current car make extracting maximum performance over a single lap more challenging for him.
At Imola, Norris was provisionally third after the initial Q3 runs, behind Piastri and Max Verstappen, but dropped to fourth after Mercedes` George Russell improved his lap time.
Norris commented: “I suppose I simply wasn`t fast enough. My performances in Q3 this year haven`t been strong enough, so it`s the same story.”
Three-time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick also wondered if Norris might be overthinking his qualifying struggles, particularly in Q3.
Chadwick stated: “I disagree with the idea that he lacks pace, because he demonstrates flashes of speed throughout qualifying and practice sessions – the issue is specifically in Q3, which he acknowledged himself. I sincerely hope he isn`t developing a psychological block regarding that particular session, as in my view, he possesses the speed and pace to be very competitive with Oscar, if not equal or better. If he had qualified just a few hundredths behind Oscar today, that might be expected. The problem arises when he loses three tenths to Oscar and finishes fourth; that gap is hard to recover from.”
Stella: Piastri Proved How Cool He Is Again
Norris`s difficulties are made more apparent by Piastri`s steady performance, particularly his ability to deliver under pressure.
Piastri demonstrated composure while navigating traffic on his final flying lap, a situation that could easily have cost him pole position. He managed the situation effectively, minimizing time loss and narrowly securing pole ahead of Red Bull`s Max Verstappen.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella stated that Piastri`s calm handling of the tricky situation further validated the 24-year-old`s inherent talent.
Stella told Sky Sports F1: “Oscar, once again, showcased his incredible composure – a truly cool head. He encountered numerous cars in the final two corners. He remained calm, successfully avoided losing significant time, and secured pole position. This just confirms the talent we know we have.”
“Regarding Lando,” Stella added, “the time loss was spread across a couple of corners, not confined to a single spot. We understand that currently, Lando is still seeking the perfect feel with the MCL39 to extract that final tenth of a second. We are working on this, and I`m confident he will improve in the future. However, when it comes to race pace, both drivers are very strong, and we anticipate a positive race tomorrow.”
