McLaren backed up over controversial decision as Lando Norris 'howler' called out

Nigel Mansell believes that McLaren were correct not to implement team orders sooner, calling out Lando Norris for a ‘howler’ of a mistake at the Austrian Grand Prix, where he came together with title rival Max Verstappen.

The race in Spielberg was a flashpoint in the 2024 Drivers’ Championship fight. Norris and Verstappen came together after multiple laps of battling, giving both drivers punctures. The fallout, however, was not equally distributed.

While the Red Bull man was deemed at fault for the clash and picked up a 10-second time penalty, he still managed to cross the line in P5, while Norris’ race was ended by the contact. Now, looking back with the deficit at 52 points with six races remaining, the points lost by not completing the move on Verstappen sooner would have been priceless.

Since the race in Austria, Norris has gained significant ground on Verstappen, but the 24-year-old could have been even closer if McLaren had implemented team orders in Hungary and Monza. 1992 world champion Mansell, however, believes that the team made the right call.

“No [they shouldn’t have implemented team orders sooner], not really, because both drivers early on in the season made mistakes,” he told Express Sport, in association with Top Offshore Sportsbooks. “I mean, the howler of a mistake in Austria that Lando made was basically 25, 26 points.

“So, you know, you can argue all sorts of different things. I think McLaren have acted incredibly professionally for both drivers. They've done a stunning job for them and themselves and they're to be congratulated.”

Mansell still believes Norris has what it takes to become a world champion, although the Bristol-born racer has some key weaknesses to fix. “Lando's a great driver, but he can't make some of the mistakes he makes,” he continued.

“He's had some terrible starts and he's fallen back in the pack and that's cost him a lot of points himself. Nothing to do with anybody else. It was a very unfortunate situation in Austria where he had the fastest car by a mile and he probably overstepped what he should have done and paid very severely for it.

“So if he stops making the mistakes and really steps up to realising he could be world champion and does what he does really well and that is to be consistent and race hard, get the start sorted out so if he makes good starts as opposed to indifferent starts, he's got a fabulous chance of winning the World Championship.”