Brundle: Norris lacks experience of challenging for F1 championship

Norris was in a good position to close the gap to Max Verstappen in the drivers' standings even more, as the latter was going to serve a five-place grid penalty for taking a sixth Internal Combustion Engine.

Norris won the Sprint race, while a post race penalty for violating Virtual Safety Car conditions meant Verstappen was fourth, his advantage reduced by three points.

The came qualifying, which was postponed till race day due to the rain where an untimely Red flag meant Verstappen qualified 12th, dropping to 17th on the Grand Prix starting grid after serving his penalty.

But in the race, the picture was quite different with Verstappen scything through the field in treacherous conditions with a gamble in strategy, benefiting from a Red flag, which meant a win from 17th on the grid.

On the other hand, driving errors from Norris combined with a conservative strategy meant sixth was the best the Briton could deliver, as he now lags 62 points behind the Dutchman with three races remaining.

Brundle, speaking to Sky Sports News, was asked what Norris needs to do to improve in light of another botched start in Sao Paulo where the McLaren driver lost out to Mercedes' George Russell.

Brundle said: "It's [about improving] everything at the level he's at. 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," the Sky pundit added. "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."

Norris had to come from way back to start challenging Verstappen this season, and Brundle pointed that fact out in addition to other factors that played against the McLaren driver.

He explained: "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.

"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."

Brundle was also asked whether McLaren managed their season in a wrong way, not applying team orders earlier to prioritize Norris over teammate Oscar Piastri.

In Hungary, Piastri passed polesitter Norris at the start, and while strategy put the latter ahead, McLaren issued team orders for the lead back to the Australian.

In Monza, Piastri passed Norris on the first lap after a brilliant pass and finished ahead of him.

Brundle reflected: "Lando was very clear - 'I don't want to win a world championship because my team-mate had to keep gifting me stuff here and there' - and McLaren know they can't just park a great talent like Oscar Piastri as second in the team and having to yield at every opportunity because it's really hard psychologically to get over that and keep your credibility and reputation intact.

"McLaren have learned a bit this year as well being front-runners for the first time in a very, very long time but they certainly haven't hampered Lando.

"They have given Lando every bit of support that he needed and the car that has been very fast," Brundle concluded.