Lando Norris has been criticised for not being “interested” in pushing for an extra tenth of a second, due to coming from a wealthy family.
The accusations came during a programme on Dutch broadcaster Viaplay, where Norris and rookie team-mate Oscar Piastri were compared.
Both drivers have shown excellent pace in recent rounds, following a disappointing start of the season.
McLaren have come to life since the Austrian Grand Prix, where they introduced a sizeable upgrade which dramatically improved the MCL60.
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As a result of the car’s recent pace, Norris has found himself towards the front, with him having claimed two P2 finishes from the last three races.
He even briefly led the British Grand Prix, where he started on the front row.
Piastri has been incredibly close to him though, despite being a rookie.
Piastri is very much living up to his expectations following his move from Alpine, with the Aussie having finished in the top five in the last three races.
He even claimed second in the Belgian Grand Prix sprint race, after losing out on the win to reigning World Champion Max Verstappen.
The car is definitely good enough to fight for podiums now and potentially even victories should Red Bull have a bad day, with Norris still chasing his maiden win.
He’s come close to victory, most notably at the 2021 Russian Grand Prix, but Dutch analyst Allard Kalff thinks the British driver is missing something compared to Piastri.
“They are the same type, they have to fight for it,” Kalff said in a programme on Viaplay, when comparing the McLaren duo.
“He [Piastri] had to become champion every time to continue.”
Piastri claimed the Formula 3 title in 2020 before moving to Formula 2 in 2021, a championship he won that season prior to becoming Alpine’s reserve driver in 2022.
Kalff’s colleague Kees van der Grint agrees that Norris is missing something compared to Piastri, with him having discussed the British driver’s childhood.
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Whilst stating that there’s “nothing wrong” about coming from a “very wealthy family”, van der Grint questions whether Norris has the grit to push for another tenth of a second.
“Norris has a good social background, he had an easy childhood,” van der Grint said.
“He comes from a very wealthy family. There is nothing wrong with that, but that may mean that you are not interested in the latter tenth [of a second].”