McLaren used a surprising 'unseen' tactic for Lando Norris ahead of his disappointing finish at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Heading into the Qatar Grand Prix, McLaren star Norris had the chance to secure his first Drivers' Championship title after enjoying the best season of his career.
After qualifying for the race in P2 and falling back to P3 off the start, Norris had a uphill battle to get ahead of title rivals Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri if he was to win the race, and the title.
However, a questionable strategy call from McLaren ended in disaster for the British driver, who eventually finished the race in fourth, Verstappen winning and reducing his gap in the championship table to just 12 points.
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But it wasn't the only interesting decision that McLaren made during the Qatar Grand Prix race weekend as they looked to secure the Drivers' title for the first time since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.
With Norris the title-favourite going into the final two races of the season, he is undoubtedly under the most pressure he has ever faced in his career.
For this reason, the Woking-based team decided to give as much protection as they could before the race as they didn't allow any media to come near him in the build-up.
While covering the build-up to the race in Qatar, ESPN journalist Nate Saunders reported: "Caught [a] glimpse of a rather focused Lando Norris on the grid.
“Every photographer at that end of the grid was briefly clamouring around him.
“Always hard to read into a person’s mindset, but clearly a lot going on in his head – McLaren didn’t let TV cameras or microphones near him in the build-up here.
“This could be the biggest 90 minutes or so of his life.”
Despite the disappointing finish in Qatar, Norris remains the firm favourite for the title going into the final race of the season at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
In order to be crowned 2025 champion, all the 26-year-old needs to do is finish on the podium, regardless of what his title rivals do in the race.
After winning the Qatar Grand Prix, Verstappen is now second in the Drivers' standings and just 12 points behind Norris.
That means that, should the Dutchman win the race, he will win the title if the Norris finishes P4 or lower.
Meanwhile Piastri is 16 points behind his McLaren teammate and will need to win the race with Norris finish sixth or worse to win the title.
Topics: Lando Norris, McLaren, Formula 1, Max Verstappen, Motorsport
Ben McCrum