Martin Brundle has questioned whether Lando Norris "lacks the killer instinct" to truly battle Max Verstappen, having suffered a serious F1 drivers' title blow in São Paulo.
Norris started from pole position at a soaked Interlagos, but ended up finishing in sixth after a race riddled with multiple errors.
Errors were not on Verstappen's agenda, as the Dutchman swept through the field to claim a remarkable victory from 17th on the grid.
The result extended the Dutchman's lead in the championship to 62 points, with him now getting the chance to seal the title in Las Vegas.
Norris has made several errors across the season which has seen opportunities to close on Verstappen wasted, with Brundle noting that the McLaren driver must improve in all areas.
"It's [about improving] everything at the level he's at," Brundle told Sky Sports News. "He's had some amazing victories and not least in Zandvoort and Singapore where he just ran off and hid, a little bit like Max [on Sunday].
"But he lacks the experience of challenging for a world championship and I think that's a whole new set of challenges and rules - and that's what he will learn from this year.
"Sometimes you wonder if he lacks the killer instinct up against Max, who we know can be pretty brutal in combat.
"But I think Lando will learn a lot from this season, and Max winning seven of the first 10 races pretty much put him out of reach really."
The biggest deficit Norris has faced to Verstappen is 84 points, with Brundle having highlighted that a consistent run of incredible results would have been required by the 24-year-old to dethrone the three-time world champion.
Now, Norris needs more than a miracle to become world champion this season, as pointed out by the former F1 driver.
"If you add all that up together, Lando needed to take a chunk of points out of Max every single race and hope that there was his team-mate and a Ferrari or two, and even a Mercedes or two, between them," added Brundle.
"But one turnaround, like in Brazil, and that little escapade was over by and large unless a lot of bizarre things happen now in the final races."
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding, as they look back on last weekend's spectacular São Paulo Grand Prix. Max Verstappen's incredible victory from 17th is a leading talking point, and how the Dutchman is within touching distance of a fourth F1 drivers' title.
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