Lando Norris handed 'critical' Austrian GP warning

Former F1 driver Karun Chandhok has labelled the Austrian Grand Prix as a “critical” weekend for Lando Norris.

Norris enters the race weekend 22 points off championship leader and team-mate Oscar Piastri.

Piastri's advantage was aided after Norris failed to score last time out in Canada following a late-race collision between the McLaren duo.

With Norris' home race from Silverstone following the current round in Spielberg, Chandhok highlighted the 25-year-old's desire to enter his home event in high spirits.

“I think this is a critical weekend for Lando, I really do,” Chandhok told Sky F1.

“We're going to the British Grand Prix after this. There are going to be 10,000 fans in the Lando grandstand. 

“The kerbs are painted black and yellow for him - there's a lot of pressure there, and he'd want to come to Silverstone with a good weekend behind him.

“This has been a track that has been kind to him in the past. He nearly won last year, so I'm hopeful he'll have a good one here.”

McLaren development path 'not ideal'

As the McLaren drivers tussle for the drivers' championship, the duo have adopted different suspension configurations to suit their personal preferences.

McLaren technical director of engineer Neil Houldey told media including RacingNews365 in Canada that he expects the contrasting choice to continue throughout the season.

Chandhok highlighted it is far from a comfortable situation for a team to have their drivers wanting to pull the car in different directions.

“It's not ideal when two drivers want two separate things from the car,” he stated. 

“Today, especially with the cost cap, the teams have to focus resources on developing parts that hopefully are going to work for everyone. 

“From what McLaren was saying in Canada and what they sort of alluded to here is very much about driver feel. 

“Lando has talked about this year's car not giving the feel on the front end, not giving him the feeling he would like when he turns the wheel into the corners.

“The suspension update is meant to improve that. He's happy with it. It's working for him. It worked well for him in Canada. Oscar seems happy to stick with the older version.”