Schumacher claims Norris made ‘too many mistakes’ in brutal comparison with Leclerc

Former Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher has claimed Lando Norris made too many mistakes in his comparison to Ferrari star Charles Leclerc.

Norris took his seventh podium of the 2023 season at the Brazilian Grand Prix, but he is still gunning for his first victory.

After McLaren’s impressive revival, they became Red Bull’s main rival in the second half of the season.

However, Norris has finished second to Max Verstappen in 3 of the last 5 races.
However, Schumacher believes that Norris encountered most of his problems not in the race but in qualifying.

“Lando Norris has become the number one suitor,” Schumacher wrote for Sky Germany. “But he still made too many mistakes, especially in qualifying.

“Norris reminds me a bit of Charles Leclerc. However, Norris ran very well.
Norris’ problem is that he wants too much in qualifying.
“Then he was too enthusiastic and made too many mistakes.”

Are Norris and Leclerc the same?

Leclerc suffered a string of unfortunate results in the second half of the season, with incidents including a race start failure in Brazil and a disqualification in Austin.

Contrary to Schumacher’s comments, Leclerc enjoyed some success in qualifying, taking pole position in four races, even in the face of Red Bull’s dominance.

In races, however, Leclerc often encountered problems, as he was unable to convert any of his pole positions into wins.

However, the Monegasque pilot realized his mistakes and accepted responsibility for them in the past.

“The most difficult moments for me are always my mistakes,” Leclerc said. “Because I’m always very strict with myself and every time I make a mistake, I always react in a worse way than when someone else makes a mistake.

“Talking about my mistakes this year, yes, I made a mistake in France., but let’s be honest, in terms of the season as a whole, a mistake of some kind is always made at some point in a championship. It was a clearly costly mistake., because I was ahead, but that could happen.”