Lando Norris Abruptly Dismisses Question About Recurring Issues Ahead Of Monza Pole

Chris Ladd | Aug 31, 2024

Jun 9, 2024; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; McLaren driver Lando Norris (GBR) (right) talks with Mercedes driver George Russell (GBR) after the Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports / Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

McLaren driver Lando Norris dismissed concerns about his poor F1 starts after securing pole position for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

When asked if he was worried about a repeat of his recent struggles off the line, Norris confidently interrupted the journalist, saying, as quoted by PlanetF1:

"I’m not."

Despite issues in previous races, including at Zandvoort where he fell behind after a poor start, Norris remains assured that McLaren has made progress in improving their starts, particularly during practice sessions at Monza.

Norris's recent victory at Zandvoort marks a significant milestone in his career. Despite his poor getaway, Norris managed to record the biggest margin of victory in the 2024 F1 season so far.

However, the issue of starts has become a noticeable weakness for Norris this season. This was evident not only in Zandvoort but also earlier in Spain, where he lost the lead to Max Verstappen off the line. This recurring issue has led to questions about whether it might affect his performance in upcoming races, particularly at Monza, where the long run down to the first corner poses a significant challenge.

Both he and his teammate Oscar Piastri struggled with their starts at the Dutch GP, but McLaren has been working on improvements. Norris mentioned that the team had identified "a couple of things" during their post-race review and has seen noticeable improvements in practice starts at Monza.

With McLaren securing a front-row lockout at Monza, both Norris and Piastri are well-positioned for strong performances. Norris's confidence in the team's progress with the MCL38's starts suggests that they have addressed the issues, and he will be aiming to capitalize on this in the race. The Italian Grand Prix will be a crucial test to see if these improvements translate into a clean start and potentially another victory for Norris.

Asked to pinpoint his best opportunities to beat Norris on Sunday, Piastri said:

“I think the start is always a good opportunity. It’s a long run to Turn 1 here.

“Obviously, we as a team need to do a bit of a better job than last week unless we plan on doing bad starts and just creating a roadblock.

“I think that is an opportunity, but there will be more opportunities tomorrow.

“I think the strategy is still a bit of a question mark. No one’s really done more than 10 laps on a set of tires, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens.

“I think it’ll be a pretty interesting one even after the first lap.”