McLaren give reason for Norris’ poor starts that are costing him race wins

Alex Gassman
Lando start

Lando Norris has had a number of poor race starts this season that have cost him race wins and crucial points in the championship.

Now McLaren have given an explanation as to why they think Lando is struggling to get his car off the line. 

Lando's poor starts in 2024

In 2023 Lando had a number of rocketship starts when the lights when out over the season’s races. The British GP at Silverstone was one of those, where he jumped ahead of polesitter Max Verstappen off the line to take the lead of his home race in to Turn 1.

Then there was Suzuka where he challenged for the lead in to the first corner after a great getaway from his P3 spot. Whilst Max just managed to hold him off, Lando did go around the outside of his teammate to grab an extra position.

Then there was the US Grand Prix in Austin where he out-launched the polesitter Leclerc to take the lead in to Turn 1.

Lando Max suzuka 2023

But 2024 has not been so good for Lando’s race starts. I‘ve gone back and analysed Lando’s starts in every race so far this year. I’ve looked at his starting position and compared it to his position after the first corner in both Grand Prix and Sprint Races. 

The image below shows the results. It doesn’t make good reading for Lando fans.

Lando Norris Race starts 2024

As you can see, Lando hasn’t made up a single position at the start of any race this season so far, either for Grand Prix or Sprints. 

Across the fourteen Grand Prix he’s lost a total of 10 spots, with the worst being at the two most recent races; Hungary and Belgium.

He started in pole at the Hungarian Grand Prix but didn’t get a great launch. His teammate Oscar Piastri went up his inside and Verstappen went around his outside (but he eventually gave the place back). Lando lost one further spot in the process. Exiting T1 in 4th place after starting on pole is not a good look.

At the Belgian GP he started P4, but ran a wheel on to the gravel at the exit of the first corner and immediately lost three spots. It seemed like a rookie error; his Team Principal Andrea Stella later said that Lando was concentrating too much on the cars behind in his mirror, and lost focus on the approaching gravel.

It’s an even worse story for the three Sprint Races where he’s lost a horrendous 17 spots. One of those does include the Miami Sprint Race where he was spun out by an Aston Martin at T1, but that still counts. 

The other was the Chinese Grand Prix where he tried to go around the outside of Hamilton after losing ground at the start from his pole spot. His outside line was the wrong choice as he ran out of track and dropped 6 positions.

Lando Hamilton Chinese Sprint race start 2024

Costing Lando points

McLaren have now got a race-winning car that can match and even beat the Red Bull on pure pace. But with that comes pressure for the team and its drivers to deliver, and Norris is no doubt feeling the heat.

Taking his first win at the Miami Grand Prix was a huge monkey off his back. But with his newer and younger teammate also taking his first win at Hungary, the pressure is now coming at Lando from the other side of the garage as well. 

Those poor starts shown above are costing Lando precious points. It’s a challenge for the drivers to overtake at a number of tracks, and any positions won or lost at the start are likely to have a lasting effect come the chequered flag.

Without a doubt, his poor starts at the Spanish and Hungarian Grand Prix cost him two more victories. And he knows it.

“I’ve given away a lot of points over the last three, four races just because of stupid stuff, mistakes and bad starts – Turn 1 now,” Norris said after the Belgian GP. 

“I think I just need to reset. The last two, three races I’ve just not clicked as much as I needed to and given up a lot of points, so hopefully I can come back strong.”

What's the issue?

The issue hasn’t been with Lando’s reaction time. He’s always got off the line very well initially. But the struggle has come in the second phase of his starts, as the cars accelerate up through the gears to higher speeds and the drivers have to manage wheelspin.

This is what we saw when he started on pole for both the Spanish and Hungarian GP. Lando’s reactions and initial movement off the line were good, but then he struggled for pace against the car starting alongside him. The second phase of his launch meant that he never had enough acceleration to close the door and protect his position, despite trying to cut across.

The driver starting on P2 (Max and Oscar respectively) always got a better second phase of the launch and manage to create an overlap, forcing Lando to concede in to Turn 1.

To say Lando is bad at starts is incorrect. In a sport when hundredths or thousands of a second can make a diference, everything is marginal. And now there’s been a few instances where those tiny margins have cost Lando dearly.

McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella acknowledged this after the Belgian GP:

“It’s marginal things like this, I think, require little adjustments here and there.

“Certainly, we work with Lando, like we work with Oscar [Piastri], to try and see all the opportunities in which we can improve individually, but also collaborate better, to either be more prepared or to use better our abilities and talents.

“Like for Lando, for instance, he looks like there are statistically some opportunities that tend to happen in the early stages of the race, so we need to check whether this is for a reason, or it’s just random.”

Have McLaren found the problem

It appears McLaren might have found the cause of Lando’s struggles in the second phase of his launches.

The Hungarian Grand Prix was a 1-2 for McLaren, the first since 2021. But it was overshadowed by the team orders which saw Lando have to give up the lead to his teammate after the pitstops. In an article posted on their website focused on Oscar’s maiden victory, they let slip a crucial piece of information:

It wasn’t the smoothest of starts to the race for Lando, though, as he experienced a small glitch finding second gear during his acceleration from pole.

A small glitch when selecting second gear? That’s right in the second phase of the launch and exactly where Lando has been losing out on his starts. That would account for his struggles.

Was this a one-off or has it been plaguing the MCL38 for a few races now? Let’s hope they’ve sorted it and that, combined with some introspection from Lando, we see the #4 Papaya car launch in to the second half of the season all guns blazing.

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Alex Gassman

I‘m Alex. I write F1 and motorsport travel guides based on my experience as racing driver and full-time motorsport nerd. I’ve traveled the world watching F1 and other racing series.

I started oversteer48 with the aim of helping other motorsport fans who are planning on watching some racing themselves.

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