Sport

LN4 left wanting more in 2024

The 2024 season for Lando Norris can be summed up in two words: missed opportunity.

2024 was a season many thought a foregone conclusion following the result of the Chinese Grand Prix in April. Following on from their utter domination throughout 2023, Max Verstappen claimed victories in all races he had finished till then, giving him a points lead of 52 points over his would–be closest rival, Lando Norris. 

However, after a dramatic turnaround – perhaps incited by some behind–the–scenes conversations between Red Bull and the FIA alongside strong McLaren upgrades – the Red Bull of Max Verstappen looked not only beatable, but in many cases not even the fastest car.  Lando took the win in Miami and followed up with a strong second–place in Imola, where the McLaren looked to be the faster package. With 16 races left to go, and a points deficit of 60, Lando needed to outscore Max Verstappen by 3.75 points per race to go into Abu Dhabi equal on points. 

For many looking back, it was championship on! However, 15 races later, Max has an 80-point lead going into the final race – so what happened? 

Many argue that Lando missed key opportunities, notably in Canada and Great Britain with poor strategy; Spain, Italy, and Hungary  where he lost off the line; and in Brazil, Qatar, and Austria, where he could have secured significantly more points than he ended up managing. 

If we reshuffle the points to account for this, making changes to the results of the Canadian, British, Spanish, Italian, Hungarian, Austrian, Brazilian, and Qatari Grands Prix, we can see that if Lando executed at each of these opportunities, at this point in the season, he could lead Max 426 points to 412, making him the clear favourite going into Abu Dhabi! This highlights just how beatable Max was for Lando this year if he had simply executed. 

The dashed lines indicate the points scored by Norris and Verstappen in the scenario. Tarun Nair and Taylor Pomfret

Time will tell if this will be to Lando what 2007 was to Lewis Hamilton, but one thing is for sure: LN4 will go into the winter break feeling as though a potential title slipped through his fingers. 

From Issue 1860

29th Nov 2024

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Read more

How the Supreme Court ruling on gender is impacting queer people at Imperial

News

How the Supreme Court ruling on gender is impacting queer people at Imperial

Last month, the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) ruled that for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 (EA 2010), the definition of a woman is based on biological sex.  The case brought before the court, For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, asked if transgender women should be included

By Oscar Mitcham and Isabella Duchovny
College opens Imperial Global India in Bengaluru

News

College opens Imperial Global India in Bengaluru

Imperial College London has launched its fourth global hub in Bengaluru. The hub will host research programmes with Indian partners, focusing on some of “the world’s most pressing challenges in areas such as climate change and sustainability, food and water security, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR).” Launched at the Science

By Mohammad Majlisi