The McLaren F1 team has not yet “tough enough to fight for a championship”according to Damon Hill, after his hopes of a drivers' title faded in Brazil and those concerning the manufacturers' title are weakened.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen won the Sao Paulo Grand Prix from 17th on the grid, taking advantage of the wet conditions brilliantly. He now has a 62-point lead over Lando Norris with just three rounds remaining.
The race weekend (Sprint and main) in Sao Paulo however turned in favor of Norris… at the start.
"What difference could it have made if it had been the opposite result," declared the 1996 world champion.
“At one point, Max was the guy who was stuck 11 or 10 seconds behind the leader, and Lando had points in his pocket. It was always going to be a critical race, for the drivers' title. An opportunity that probably won't come again Lando is obviously discouraged by the result and the gap now.”
Norris had his race in Brazil marred by an aborted start, for which he was reprimanded and fined.
But Hill noted: “I don't think he took his second restart well. He gave Charles Leclerc an opportunity. And that really didn't help.”
“McLaren is not tough enough to fight for a championship, they are taking advantage this year of the fact that Sergio Perez is really absent. And Ferrari has had its ups and downs and is now threatening the constructors' championship too. McLaren could lose everything. “
“Yet knowing how to fight hard for every point is what it takes. There were other moments in the season where McLaren and Lando missed their mark. They will think long and hard about 2024, and come back stronger in 2025.”
“To win a championship, you can't afford to make mistakes. The competition is too tough and too relentless.”
