Yesterday at 08:20
Lando Norris will not leave McLaren, regardless of whether he loses
the F1 drivers' championship to Oscar Piastri this season,
according to Mark Gallagher. Despite the perception of the British
driver, that he lacks the mental toughness of his team-mate, the
former F1 broadcaster and commentator insists the Woking-based
squad rates the 25-year-old "very highly" and is committed to its
current line-up, with both drivers on long-term deals. However, the
emergence of Piastri, who leads their intra-team title fight by 31
points with eight rounds of the campaign remaining, has led some to
suggest the papaya outfit will back the Australian over Norris in
the future. That cuts against the ethos of the team, and everything
either driver or Andrea Stella or Zak Brown has said about their
pairing. The two are imbued with a loyalty to McLaren, which places
a premium on a team-first perspective and in return, the team is
attempting to provide a level and fair playing field for them to
fight their battle on. So, when asked if he felt Norris could leave
the reigning constructors' champions if he falls short of taking
the drivers' crown and struggles to shake off the narrative
surrounding him, Gallagher disagreed. "No, I don't think there's
any chance of that happening," he told Betway . "McLaren rate him
very highly, and I've been massively impressed with Lando's speed
in both qualifying and races. "Looking at the data and analysis of
individual laps, there's hardly anything between him and Oscar.
They're both really strong - it's a fantastic pairing.
"Unfortunately, someone has to win the championship. But the other
shouldn't feel damaged by that - that's just the way things fall.
"I don't think missing out would hurt Lando's trajectory. That
failure in Zandvoort wasn't his fault. Yes, he's made mistakes in
the past, but the real question is: do you learn from them?" The
gloves are off Gallagher highlighted how Norris' open and honest
approach to the F1 press is used against him, which his
self-critical nature turned into a weapon for his rivals to use
against him. But he maintains that the time for any such talk is
now over and that the nine-time grand prix winner must view Piastri
as the enemy in their "gloves-off" fight for the title. "I think
Piastri has made a few steps forward, and Lando has a very similar
pace to him," he added. "The key now is whether Lando can address
the so-called fragility - and I say 'so-called' because the media
love to speculate about his self-doubt. "He spoke about his mental
health on the High Performance Podcast, but the truth is, he's at
the pinnacle of world motorsport now, and any perceived weakness -
real or imaginary - gets magnified. "I think the time for talking
about fragility is over. This is war. And in this war, Oscar
Piastri is the opponent. It's a gloves-off battle now."
