Formula 1: A string of misfortune strikes Lando Norris

After a brilliant string of points finishes with some shocking qualifying performances, Lando Norris has had a rough go of things for the last few Formula 1 races.

Lando Norris’s fantastic performance has been one of the many excitements so far in the 2021 Formula 1 season. Currently placed fourth in the driver standings with 114 points and having held third place until this past weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, Norris has had a stellar year thus far.

Starting with a strong fourth place finish at the first race of the year in Bahrain, Norris kept up that strong performance with three podium finishes and a 10-race streak of scoring points to start the season.

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Not only has he been consistent in race pace throughout the year, but he has also challenged the top teams during qualifying. In Q3 for the Austrian Grand Prix, Norris qualified in second place, only 0.048 seconds behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Unfortunately, luck has not been on Norris’s side as of late.

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His 10-race streak of scoring points (15 going back to last year) ended in the Hungarian Grand Prix when Valtteri Bottas careened into the back of his McLaren just before turn 1, knocking them both out of the race and causing damage to several other cars.

Disappointed but not demoralized, Norris came back swinging in Belgium, placing first in both Q1 and Q2 in the wet. Many thought that he could be a serious contender for pole, which would have been the first of his Formula 1 career, until he crashed coming out of Eau Rouge on his first hot lap of Q3.

This crash required Norris’s team to change his gearbox, resulting in a five-place grid penalty. While Perez’s pit lane start after his crash on the way to the grid bumped Norris up to 14th place, the Belgian Grand Prix started and finished behind the safety car, giving Norris no opportunity to improve.

The sour streak continued for Norris in the Netherlands at Circuit Zandvoort when a red flag knocked him out in Q2 for the first time this season. Starting from 13th place, he had a decent race, making up a few positions and finishing just in front of teammate Daniel Ricciardo in 10th to score one point for the team.

Despite this streak of bad luck and falling performance, Norris has remained largely positive and in good spirits.

Following his big crash in Belgium, he was cleared to race the next day, stating:

"“First of all, I’m doing good, but I’ve been better! I think just a bit bruised. Obviously, it was quite a big impact and I think my body’s just been thrown around a little bit but I’m good. I’m ready to race tomorrow and I want to get back on track already because it didn’t end the way I wanted it to.”"

Following a disappointing Dutch Grand Prix which saw Ferrari take third place from McLaren in the constructor standings and Bottas take third from Norris in the driver standings, he said:

"“It’s tricky – I would have loved a bit more than one point obviously, but one point is still more than nothing so I’m happy with that. We had good pace in the car, and I caught the Alpines towards the end of the race. But I think you need a big advantage in pace to be able to do something here, like Sergio had on all of us.”"

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At just 21 years old and with only 51 Grands Prix entered, Norris has been making waves. Some drivers are often glossed over in favor of others who are hot topics, such as Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton or George Russell. But Lando? He is certainly one of the drivers to watch closely, as you could be looking at a future world champion.

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