Norris handed ruthless 'you haven't got it' assessment by former F1 boss

Former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan has called on Lando Norris to take a “long and hard look in the mirror” over the winter break as he questioned the McLaren driver's F1 title-winning abilities.

Norris' championship hopes for this season are hanging by a thread following Max Verstappen's emphatic drive to victory in Brazil last weekend.

Despite starting from pole position, Norris could only manage sixth at the chequered flag for his worst result this year - bar a DNF in Austria - since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in March.

The McLaren driver is 62 points adrift of Verstappen with three grands prix and a sprint remaining.

In a withering review, Jordan has outlined Norris must use the winter break to become a more polished driver ahead of the 2025 campaign.

“Lando hasn't quite got there yet,” he said on the Formula For Success podcast. “He hasn't got there on the start. He hasn't got there on the pole position run to the corner.

“He has the speed, beyond any doubt, he’s got the speed.

“But there's nothing in me that tells me I've seen in Lando something that I saw what Max could do on Sunday. Nothing! Nothing! I’m sorry, it’s just not there.

“Lando has to look at himself long and hard this winter in the mirror and say to himself, ‘If I'm going to be a great world champion, I have a lot to learn here and I need to start replaying those videos about what it really is like to be hard, tough and victorious’.

“And I'm sorry [but] at this moment in time, he hasn't got it.

“He hasn’t translated those [opportunities] into race wins. He dicked around on the podium. He’s dicked around on the start line. Honestly, how many races should he have won this year?”

Coulthard confident Norris 'has it'

Jordan's podcast co-host and 13-time grand prix winner David Coulthard pointed to Norris' lacklustre starts as a key weakness this season.

However, the former McLaren and Red Bull driver countered Jordan's argument and asserted Norris has championship-winning capabilities.

“He hasn't converted the starts, he wasn't a maestro in the rain in Brazil,” he said. “So for me, I think Lando has it. I think Lando will deliver it.

“What we were witnessing in Max is - and Lando has said it himself in a previous interview - that Max is the benchmark in F1 right now.

“Max schooled them all on Sunday, but it was 10 races since Max had won a grand prix, his longest since an 11-race streak in 2020.

“It was a bit of a barren period there for Max. But what a way to come back and say to everybody, I'm not giving up this world championship without that kind of fight.”