The weakness Lando Norris still must overcome, and everyone in the F1 paddock knows it

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Lando Norris has never had a better chance to win a Formula 1 world championship.

He went into the summer break having won three of the last four races, cutting the gap at the top of the drivers’ standings to just nine points.

Oscar Piastri was starting to build a decent lead over his McLaren teammate, but Norris has done well to close it down.

The young Australian might feel hard done by, though. After being controversially penalized at Silverstone, he then lost to an alternative strategy in Hungary, following a poor start by Norris.

McLaren allowed Norris a ‘very rare’ car change this season, approving different suspension setups for both drivers. This shows their focus on winning the constructors’ title, even if it means varied driver setups.

The next 10 Grands Prix could be career-defining for both Norris and Piastri. With F1 regulations set to change next season, there is no guarantee that McLaren will remain on top.

Speaking about Norris, journalist Andrew Benson highlighted one quality that everyone in the paddock recognises and mentioned an area where he still needs improvement.

Lando Norris’s consistency questioned by Formula 1 paddock

On the Chequered Flag Podcast, Benson discussed Norris’s reputation with Sam Bird saying: “He is blisteringly quick. Everybody says that about him, that he’s about as fast as anybody out there. What he isn’t is as consistent as everybody out there.

“And that’s the battle that he’s got this year. His teammate, Oscar Piastri, is incredibly solid.

“I think probably when everything’s perfect for Norris, he’s probably a little bit faster than Piastri. But what we’re seeing is that Piastri has a very, very high average.”

Bird continued: “I think if there is a weakness of Lando’s, I think there might be… honestly, it’s unfair to say two, but maybe one of them.

“Look, Oscar is very, very headstrong. And I think that Lando can continue to work on that side of things, to get stronger with regard to being more level-headed all the time. Not getting too down when it’s gone badly, not getting too elated when it’s gone well. I think that’s where Oscar’s good.

“But also, we’ve just mentioned how fast he is. Oscar’s happy with a certain speed and can match Lando. There are times when Lando looks to do the lap of the gods and might then have a snap at the last corner or go off track with all four wheels unnecessarily.

“He can be three-tenths up the road here in FP2 but then pushing so hard has had a couple of near-misses already in FP2 that he doesn’t need because he already has plenty of pace.”

• READ MORE: Oscar Piastri compared to Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso by McLaren boss

Talks of an F1 title for Norris bring Ayrton Senna comparisons

This year, McLaren’s performance has been so strong that some have started to draw comparisons to their legendary 1988 season.

While unlikely to match Red Bull’s 2023 performance, they could still win 21 of 24 races this season. However, even this success would not surpass McLaren’s 1988 dominance, when Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost won 15 of 16 races.

Senna ended up winning his first title that year, even though Prost scored more points overall. A quirk in the rules at the time helped tip things in his favour.

Norris has been compared to Senna in one particular way, and it is high praise given who we are talking about.

Norris needs consistency to win, otherwise Piastri could prevail in what is anticipated to be a tight F1 title fight.