Ex-F1 driver bashes McLaren for their ‘weird’ comments regarding F1 championship post Brazilian GP

Lando Norris is currently 62 points behind the reigning world champion Max Verstappen in the 2024 drivers' championship.

Ex-F1 driver bashes McLaren for their ‘weird’ comments regarding F1 championship post Brazilian GP

Oscar Piastri, Andrea Stella, and Lando Norris (Via: Imago)

The McLaren Formula 1 team did not have a fruitful outing at the 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finished outside the top three and following the event, the outfit asserted that their priority is the constructors’ title instead of the drivers’.

This has not at all sat well with the 1997 Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve. He believes that the driver’s championship is the one that McLaren should be gunning for instead of saying it’s not a priority.

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Villeneuve finds the papaya-colored outfit’s comments as hard to comprehend.

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McLaren said the weirdest thing after Brazil, and that was the team’s priority was not the Drivers’ Championship but the Constructors’ title. That is very odd. That’s what teams that don’t win say. Ok, the Constructors’ title brings you money. But nobody cares about the constructors’. People only remember who the world champion driver was and the team was linked to that world champion.

Jacques Villeneuve via GPBlog

McLaren is currently leading the 2024 Constructors’ championship by a healthy margin. They had the chance to cut the deficit to Max Verstappen in the drivers’ tussle at Interlagos but botched the opportunity. As things stand, Lando Norris is 62 points behind with only three races remaining.

McLaren has not helped Lando Norris in the drivers’ championship

While Villeneuve has bashed McLaren for their timid comments after the Brazilian GP, he has also ripped into them for not helping Norris in 2024. There have been quite a few instances this year where they could have helped the Brit instead of giving equal treatment to its drivers.

Lando Norris (via IMAGO)
Lando Norris (via IMAGO)

The constructors is only good on paper and for the extra money, it brings to the team. That’s about it. Outside of the team itself, nobody actually cares about it. To me, that shows that they didn’t really help Lando out that much.

Jacques Villeneuve via the same interview

With only three Grand Prix remaining in the season, Norris’ challenge for the drivers’ title is pretty much on its last legs. The Brit would only be able to turn the tables if Verstappen incurs a few DNF’s or have horrendous outings in the upcoming events.

However, this seems like an extremely unlikely possibility given the mettle of the reigning world champion behind the wheel of the RB20. 2025 could prove to be the year where Norris might be fully able to take the fight to the Dutchman.