2024 Mclaren Formula 1 Team

[Nicktendo86]

We can all agree that Lando Norris drove like a champion on a race where the pressure was huge. He made the perfect start and gave no chance to Sainz for anything more than 2nd place.

He led from pole in the fastest car with no real pressure to his position at any point in the race.

That's about as easy a job as it gets in F1. Not saying he isn't good or it wasn't a decent enough job for what they needed, but calling it the drive of a champion is bizarre.

He had literally the hopes of the team in his shoulders for the entire race. If he messed up the start, overshot the pit box, lost concentration for a split second the title would have gone to Ferrari. It was a champions drive in my book.

[SilviuAgo]

Hmm, Greece is full of 40 year old male accountants like you and yet the country has some of the worst financial issues in the EU... it's all starting to make sense

I'm teasing of course. No, your data can't be seen, apart from on your birthday, if you have put it it, it will wish happy birthday to you on the front page, which is something I did not do.
Posting your birth date on a public site seems rather stupid.

Thank god these financial issues are in the past but in my opinion it's more than just accounting. Regarding my data I haven't posted any personal information in my profile. You see what happened is that I am also writing on a forum called gazzetta on the F1 section. It's not a forum and more like a comment section on each article. I'm there 3 years commenting about Mclaren and Hamilton and I usually come to blows with a Ferrari fanatic from the Schumacher era who has issues with Hamilton breaking Schumi's records. Today it was the first time he called me by my real name which is strange as I haven't mentioned my name before.

Maybe this has to be linked with the gazzetta forum, not here. From next year, when Ham will be in Ferrari, maybe the Scuderia fans will be happy that he will pass Schumacher records.

And related to McLaren vs Ferrari...I wonder what happened with the T-shirts prepared by Ferrari in case they win the title. McLaren put the 2024 World Champion t-shirts straight away. I am sure also Ferrari had something prepared to celebrate.

[Darth-Piekus]

He had literally the hopes of the team in his shoulders for the entire race. If he messed up the start, overshot the pit box, lost concentration for a split second the title would have gone to Ferrari. It was a champions drive in my book.

I couldn't say it better. Imagine something happened due to pressure. He had 26 years of pressure on his shoulders plus his mind loaded with the thoughts of something that could go wrong. His drive was of a champion this time.

Think of it. He made the perfect start never giving any chance to Sainz or Piastri, controlled the whole race and he made the perfect pit stops.

[Sphere3758]

He had literally the hopes of the team in his shoulders for the entire race. If he messed up the start, overshot the pit box, lost concentration for a split second the title would have gone to Ferrari. It was a champions drive in my book.

I couldn't say it better. Imagine something happened due to pressure. He had 26 years of pressure on his shoulders plus his mind loaded with the thoughts of something that could go wrong. His drive was of a champion this time.

Think of it. He made the perfect start never giving any chance to Sainz or Piastri, controlled the whole race and he made the perfect pit stops.

It was a nice clean drive, but having Carlos behind him instead of Charles must have been a relief. Charles would have done anything to win, including take both of them out . Carlos would never do that to Lando

[Darth-Piekus]

Why would Charles do that? He hasn't given that kind of vibes as a driver. I find him a respectful driver.

[Seanspeed]

He led from pole in the fastest car with no real pressure to his position at any point in the race.
That's about as easy a job as it gets in F1. Not saying he isn't good or it wasn't a decent enough job for what they needed, but calling it the drive of a champion is bizarre.

No real pressure? I disagree. When you learn that your teammate is taken out and you need to win in order to get the championship definitely adds a lot of pressure. Have you forgotten how many times Lando broke under pressure this year? You can't deny that his driving wasn't brilliant this time as he barely had the fastest car.

I can absolutely deny that leading from the front in the fastest car without being under any pressure of losing your position is some 'drive of a champion' and not literally the easiest situation for any driver to be in.

Not saying there was no pressure, but c'mon now. Trying to hype up that completely bog standard race performance is some serious butt kissing level that's not at all needed. He didn't 'outperform' the car, he didn't have some hard battle against a stronger car to keep his position(not that coming 2nd would have hurt the WCC at all), he didn't have to fight through the pack due to some misfortune, etc. Literally nothing he did was the least bit extraordinary. He did what was expected of him and that was it.

[Seanspeed]

We can all agree that Lando Norris drove like a champion on a race where the pressure was huge. He made the perfect start and gave no chance to Sainz for anything more than 2nd place.

He led from pole in the fastest car with no real pressure to his position at any point in the race.

That's about as easy a job as it gets in F1. Not saying he isn't good or it wasn't a decent enough job for what they needed, but calling it the drive of a champion is bizarre.

He had literally the hopes of the team in his shoulders for the entire race. If he messed up the start, overshot the pit box, lost concentration for a split second the title would have gone to Ferrari. It was a champions drive in my book.

Lando didn't even need to win to secure the WCC. From from it. There was frankly quite little pressure. Suggesting somebody drove a 'champion's drive' simply cuz they didn't crash out after starting at the front in the fastest car and never really being challenged is insane to me. That's watering down the 'drive of a champion' moniker to untold depths.

He did fine. He did what was needed. I suspect that he actually had it in him to win with an even greater gap, but was just playing it relatively safe. There's nothing remarkable about it. Mclaren's WCC was quite assured at that point, assuming Norris didn't crash out. That's not some high bar to clear.

[Balalu]

I dont see the joke though and I dont see why it matters.

There is no joke. You assumed that we cared enough to look into your profile to see if you're the same one. I certainly didn't. Your writing made it quite obvious.

Anyway, you do you, and I wish you well.

[Balalu]

He led from pole in the fastest car with no real pressure to his position at any point in the race.

That's about as easy a job as it gets in F1. Not saying he isn't good or it wasn't a decent enough job for what they needed, but calling it the drive of a champion is bizarre.

He had literally the hopes of the team in his shoulders for the entire race. If he messed up the start, overshot the pit box, lost concentration for a split second the title would have gone to Ferrari. It was a champions drive in my book.

Lando didn't even need to win to secure the WCC. From from it. There was frankly quite little pressure. Suggesting somebody drove a 'champion's drive' simply cuz they didn't crash out after starting at the front in the fastest car and never really being challenged is insane to me. That's watering down the 'drive of a champion' moniker to untold depths.

He did fine. He did what was needed. I suspect that he actually had it in him to win with an even greater gap, but was just playing it relatively safe. There's nothing remarkable about it. Mclaren's WCC was quite assured at that point, assuming Norris didn't crash out. That's not some high bar to clear.

Except that this was not just any other race. This was the title decider. There was much less pressure before Max took out Oscar, but after that, the pressure was real. Ferrari was there. One mistake could have changed everything. Champions have cracked in much lesser situations.

[Dazmacca5700]

He led from pole in the fastest car with no real pressure to his position at any point in the race.

That's about as easy a job as it gets in F1. Not saying he isn't good or it wasn't a decent enough job for what they needed, but calling it the drive of a champion is bizarre.

He had literally the hopes of the team in his shoulders for the entire race. If he messed up the start, overshot the pit box, lost concentration for a split second the title would have gone to Ferrari. It was a champions drive in my book.

Lando didn't even need to win to secure the WCC. From from it. There was frankly quite little pressure. Suggesting somebody drove a 'champion's drive' simply cuz they didn't crash out after starting at the front in the fastest car and never really being challenged is insane to me. That's watering down the 'drive of a champion' moniker to untold depths.

He did fine. He did what was needed. I suspect that he actually had it in him to win with an even greater gap, but was just playing it relatively safe. There's nothing remarkable about it. Mclaren's WCC was quite assured at that point, assuming Norris didn't crash out. That's not some high bar to clear.

Far too much effort and thought in the last quote.

[Darth-Piekus]

Lando didn't even need to win to secure the WCC. From from it. There was frankly quite little pressure. Suggesting somebody drove a 'champion's drive' simply cuz they didn't crash out after starting at the front in the fastest car and never really being challenged is insane to me. That's watering down the 'drive of a champion' moniker to untold depths.
He did fine. He did what was needed. I suspect that he actually had it in him to win with an even greater gap, but was just playing it relatively safe. There's nothing remarkable about it. Mclaren's WCC was quite assured at that point, assuming Norris didn't crash out. That's not some high bar to clear.

I'm sorry but that is your personal opinion and I feel you are trying to downplay his difficult job that he had to do. The fact that Lando knew that Piastri was taken out (and hit with an extra 10 second penalty meaning that it would be impossible to be higher than 10th) and needing to win at all costs added a lot of pressure. Combine it with the fact that Mclaren had a huge 26 year long drought adding more pressure by itself and the fact that there was always the danger of something going crap during the race (pit stop, sudden safety car, sudden DNF) and you understand why it was a fantastic drive by him this time. Norris who used to screw up his starts did a perfect start. He also performed a perfect pit stop making no mistakes and he controlled the whole race and tyre wear with a car that wasn't that much faster than Ferrari if you watched how the distance went from lap to lap. We are talking about the same Norris who fumbled under little pressure this year.

[bauc]

Nice reminder how it all happened to be:

[Seanspeed]

Except that this was not just any other race. This was the title decider. There was much less pressure before Max took out Oscar, but after that, the pressure was real. Ferrari was there. One mistake could have changed everything. Champions have cracked in much lesser situations.

You guys are losing your minds here.

The act of 'simply not crashing' is not what the term 'a drive of a champion' was ever meant for. You guys are lowering the bar to an embarrassing degree.

It's ok to admit Norris didn't do anything special, but did what was required in the moment for the team when even the most minimal result would have sufficed.

He's also the guy who spent most of the season with the fastest car and didn't even come close to winning the title, so I think any kind of 'drive of a champion' moniker doesn't fit him in general, especially when the big accolade you're giving him in this specific situation is, "He didn't crash out". I mean, jesus christ. Let's have some standards here.

[Seanspeed]

I'm sorry but that is your personal opinion and I feel you are trying to downplay his difficult job that he had to do. The fact that Lando knew that Piastri was taken out (and hit with an extra 10 second penalty meaning that it would be impossible to be higher than 10th) and needing to win at all costs added a lot of pressure. Combine it with the fact that Mclaren had a huge 26 year long drought adding more pressure by itself and the fact that there was always the danger of something going crap during the race (pit stop, sudden safety car, sudden DNF) and you understand why it was a fantastic drive by him this time. Norris who used to screw up his starts did a perfect start. He also performed a perfect pit stop making no mistakes and he controlled the whole race and tyre wear with a car that wasn't that much faster than Ferrari if you watched how the distance went from lap to lap. We are talking about the same Norris who fumbled under little pressure this year.

His job wasn't difficult. He was on pole position with the fastest car and a huge advantage in the WCC. It would have taken a spectacular collapse from Mclaren and/or their drivers for them to lose the WCC. Norris could have lazily come in 3rd and still won Mclaren the championship.

Am I taking crazy pills here? Surely even some other Mclaren fans can back me on this? I'd be agreeing with me all the same if Ferrari were in the same position. I'd be far more giddy about celebrating the WCC than trying to bizarrely prop up a driver for achieving some standard, entirely expected result.

[Balalu]

I'm sorry but that is your personal opinion and I feel you are trying to downplay his difficult job that he had to do. The fact that Lando knew that Piastri was taken out (and hit with an extra 10 second penalty meaning that it would be impossible to be higher than 10th) and needing to win at all costs added a lot of pressure. Combine it with the fact that Mclaren had a huge 26 year long drought adding more pressure by itself and the fact that there was always the danger of something going crap during the race (pit stop, sudden safety car, sudden DNF) and you understand why it was a fantastic drive by him this time. Norris who used to screw up his starts did a perfect start. He also performed a perfect pit stop making no mistakes and he controlled the whole race and tyre wear with a car that wasn't that much faster than Ferrari if you watched how the distance went from lap to lap. We are talking about the same Norris who fumbled under little pressure this year.

His job wasn't difficult. He was on pole position with the fastest car and a huge advantage in the WCC. It would have taken a spectacular collapse from Mclaren and/or their drivers for them to lose the WCC. Norris could have lazily come in 3rd and still won Mclaren the championship.

Am I taking crazy pills here? Surely even some other Mclaren fans can back me on this? I'd be agreeing with me all the same if Ferrari were in the same position. I'd be far more giddy about celebrating the WCC than trying to bizarrely prop up a driver for achieving some standard, entirely expected result.

Celebrating the WCC is exactly what we are doing. Relax, we did not declare Norris a world champion..... It seems to have rubbed you the wrong way.

If anything, the whole team delivered a champions race last Sunday.