Ralf Schumacher has called out Lando Norris for making “too many mistakes” while trying to challenge Max Verstappen in recent weeks. The 2023 season has been a rollercoaster ride for Norris with McLaren starting the year with a car that struggled to compete with those at the back of the grid.
An impressive development programme throughout the year though has seen them emerge as Red Bull’s biggest rivals to end the campaign. Norris has finished second to Max Verstappen in three of the last five races now and looked at one stage capable of winning the Brazilian Grand Prix at the weekend.
The Brit was helped by Charles Leclerc’s unfortunate retirement from the race after crashing on the formation lap, ultimately leaving a huge gap for the McLaren driver to exploit on the grid. A strong start then saw Norris jump up to second, where he would start from when the race restarted after a red flag period.
But while Norris was clearly the second-fastest car on track on Sunday, his task was made that bit harder after a disappointing qualifying session on Friday. And Schumacher believes Norris is following in the same footsteps as Leclerc in making errors while trying to fight with Verstappen.
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“Lando Norris has become the number one pursuer,” Schumacher wrote for Sky Germany. “But he still makes too many mistakes, especially in qualifying.
“Norris reminds me a bit of Charles Leclerc. However, Norris does a great job in the race. Norris’ problem is that he wants too much in qualifying.
“Then he overshoots and makes too many mistakes.” Leclerc has often times outperformed expectations in qualifying, but drops back in races.
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He made a number of mistakes in races last year which resulted in four crashes in the span of five race weekends. His retirement at the 2022 French Grand Prix led to plenty of criticism as he spun into the barrier under no pressure from any other driver while leading the race.
But Leclerc has arguably been his own worst critic in recent years, admitting in December that he’s hard on himself when he makes an error. “The most difficult moments for me are always my mistakes,” he said. “Because I am always very strict with myself and every time I make a mistake I always react in a worse way than when someone else makes a mistake.
“Speaking of my mistakes this year, yes, I made one in France, but honestly, speaking of the season in general, a mistake is always made at a certain point in a championship. This was a mistake that obviously cost a lot, because I was in the lead, but it can happen.”
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