Norris Rejects Verstappen: Better Drivers Still Make a Difference in F1

Lando Norris has dismissed Max Verstappen's claims that F1 drivers are "not allowed to make a difference" with the sport's new power unit energy algorithms. According to the McLaren driver, individual skill still plays a major role, especially through corners.

Verstappen had complained that the algorithms managing energy deployment on the all-new power units limit driver input. The systems learn the optimal way to deploy energy around a lap, requiring drivers to be clean, consistent, and precise to avoid confusing them. As a result, the Max Verstappen believes "you're not allowed to make a difference because it will just penalise you on the next straight."

Responding to those comments, Lando Norris insists that "better drivers" can still gain an edge, particularly in corners. He cited high-speed corners like Pouhon at Spa, where a driver willing to go flat-out can gain up to half a tenth compared to those who don't.

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"There are obviously some corners that get a bit more eliminated, like Pouhon, where last year you could maybe get close to doing it flat to someone who doesn't do it flat, and you maybe gain half a tenth. Some corners, yeah, maybe it tightens up, but if you're a better driver, there are still corners to try and gain an advantage on everyone, so I wouldn't say I necessarily agree with everything," Norris told media, including RacingNews365.

Norris added that at fast tracks like Silverstone and Spa, there are fewer corners to exploit, but at the Hungaroring, Verstappen's claim doesn't hold. "On a track like the Hungaroring, I don't think that's true at all. It's not even the fact that you get confused; it's just sometimes it does random stuff. There are certain things you need to try and do at times to try and help the battery; there are certain styles that maybe work a little bit more than previous years," he explained.

The British driver also highlighted changes in tyre characteristics affecting driving style. "Even the tyres have changed a little bit, and how the characteristic of the tyres also means there are certain things you cannot be as attacking as in previous years with the car; that's our car. But every car is very different, so I can't speak on everyone else's behalf, but there are also a lot of ways that we have to drive this car very differently, unlike last season, but that is our job," he concluded.