Lando Norris Breaks Silence on Humiliation as Zak Brown & Co. Left Exposed by Red Bull Outcast

Lando Norris and his McLaren team put significant effort into their MCL60 to generate promising outcomes following the summer break. However, it quickly became evident that the performance of their vehicle depended largely on the specific racetrack. Just as many circuits seem to favor McLaren, yesterday during the Monza Qualifying session, we witnessed Lando Norris and his team getting exposed by a former Red Bull driver who has been in great form lately. This has prompted the 23-year-old to break his silence on the “inefficient car.”

Lando Norris had forewarned on Thursday that the weekend would pose challenges for the team and his prediction swiftly proved to be accurate. On the high-speed Monza circuit, the McLaren team found themselves trailing behind the Red Bull outcast, currently the Williams driver, Alex Albon. So how did the Williams driver leave the top competitor in misery?

Lando Norris trails RB outcast Alex Albon

The Thai-British driver has been exceptional while piloting the underperforming Williams, and with recent adjustments made to their FW-45, Albon has effectively dashed McLaren’s aspirations of catching up to Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team at the Monza track. Subsequently, Norris expressed his belief that the aerodynamic adjustments McLaren made to enhance their straight-line speed at Monza weren’t sufficient to outpace the Grove-based team, which has consistently outperformed several top teams in terms of straight-line performance.

In light of this, the 23-year-old driver has decided to speak out about the humiliation of being surpassed by Williams and has broken his silence after achieving only a disappointing P9 finish. As per a tweet, Norris quoted, “I don’t think we can really go forwards, but we will try. We have an inefficient car and that doesn’t allow us to race well.”

Pointing out his disappointment with the ineffectiveness of the MCL60, the 23-year-old said that he doesn’t believe in getting past Williams and claims to be behind them at the race today. He said, “We cut everything off the wing that we could. I’m expecting to be behind the Williams, and we expect them to finish ahead.”

READ MORE: Lando Norris Served a Nasty Betrayal as McLaren Boss Surrenders to Max Verstappen’s Supremacy 

As McLaren grapples with the label of underperformance, Christian Horner has resorted to employing tactics some might consider less than honorable. Furthermore, even Lando Norris’ decision to maintain his faith in the McLaren team has been downplayed by his closest friend.

Max Verstappen downplays Norris’ decision to stick with McLaren

In the span of a month since their convincing performance, McLaren’s strategic approach seems to have faltered. Despite their thorough preparation for the Italian GP, the qualifying session proved to be a letdown. Lando Norris had already anticipated a challenging weekend at Monza. However, it’s now his friend Max Verstappen who has identified the root cause.

According to PlanetF1, following the qualifying session, the Dutchman has highlighted a less-than-wise decision made by Norris, which has now left him in a difficult situation. He said, “Well, I mean, he signed a very long-term deal with McLaren a few years ago. So that was probably not a smart thing to do, from his side.”

Further, the double champion also pointed out the question of how he sees him pairing with his best friend. He said, “I know he’s one of the best drivers out there at the moment and, for sure, it would be very interesting to team up with each other.”

WATCH THIS STORY: “F**ked It Up Again”: Lando Norris’ Frustrated Apology After Bad Luck at 2023 Monaco GP

While the McLaren team was well aware of the challenges they would face, the humbling experience of being surpassed by Williams must have been a painful blow. Nonetheless, it will be intriguing to observe how swiftly Norris can advance through the ranks today.