11 replies to this topic

[Andreas93]

Though he is the closest challenger of Max Verstappen, I generally think most people regard Norris as a far inferior driver to Verstappen and is only in the contention due to his car. 

Yet is this perception actually true? And should Norris deserve more credit?

 

Ever since he arrived to the sport in 2019, Norris had been teamed up with Sainz, Ricciardo and Piastri, a more than decent line-up of teammates and he was matching Sainz for speed more or less from the start, obliterated Ricciardo and so far beaten Piastri. 

This season people have been highly critical of Norris's starts, and there were some pretty crap ones, and some questionable strategy choices like in Britain the softs for the final stint, but Max was hardly faultless this year either, by my count he made three big errors in races already by damaging his floor in Miami, colliding with Norris in Austria and hitting Hamilton in Hungary, and though he got away with these relatively painlessly these are still pretty big errors at the end of the day. In addition he fluffed his last qualy lap in Monaco which more or less determined his race position, damaged his car in Silverstone, and had a rare off weekend in Baku where he was nowhere while Red Bull looked like a car capable of an easy podium.

 

And don't get me wrong, if I could pick which one I'd like Ferrari to sign for the future I'd still prefer Max, but I am not sure the difference between them this year had been as big as many people like it to make out. 

Edited by Andreas93, 15 October 2024 - 20:54.

[messy]

We really need another race.

[pdac]

My personal opinion is that Norris is fast but had not yet matured to the point where he has eliminated the temptation to make rash moves when he's frustrated trying to overtake someone. Even Verstappen succumbs to this every now and again, but nowhere near as much as he did in the past.

 

But to whether Norris is underrated, I felt or some time that people were overstating his performance, but he's slowly showing his worth, so I'm now not certain whether (currently) he's overrated or underrated. I put him in the same camp as someone like Leclerc - someone who I think is very good, but not quite in the same camp as Verstappen or Hamilton or Alonso.

Edited by pdac, 15 October 2024 - 21:01.

[H0R]

If anything he is overrated

[LolaB0860]

We really need another race.

 

Stefano Domenicali on behalf of Liberty Sprint Race Awareness Committee & 25 Grand Prix Calendar Working Group liked this post

[Andreas93]

We really need another race.

Depends from where you look at it mate, for weeks I didn't really bother with F1 just enjoyed the break, my interest only got spiked again with the weekend coming

Edited by Andreas93, 15 October 2024 - 21:13.

[Mc_Silver]

He's underrated for sure. He's very talented and supremely fast driver. He may not be in the same level of Lewis or Max just yet but he is getting there for sure. His sheer speed in Netherland and Singapore were really something special. He just needs a few tidying up to do like starts and pit stop calls in changeable conditions, that's it.

[Anderis]

I don't think there are many underrated drivers in F1 and if there are any, they're probably the ones that would never get such a thread opened about them, because to be trully underrated, most people would have to not notice.

 

The paradox of asking people about which drivers are underrated and overrated. If you underrate a driver, you'll never mention him as underrated. If you overrate a driver, you'll never mention him as overrated. Thus drivers who are talked about often as underrated/overrated probably aren't anywhere near close to being the ones underrated/overrated the most.

[P123]

Depends on how people are rating him....  He's had a few issues in the races, but also some rotten strategy calls.  Maybe not his strongest year? 

[MikeTekRacing]

I don't think there is any debate that he is not one of the top drivers out there. They are a few, each with strengths and weaknesses. 

I don't think he is yet at the consistency and ruthlessness Max shows (and Lewis showed), but on a given day he can beat anyone.

 

Confusing being critical of him not maximizing stuff with underrating is wrong. He clearly did not maximize this year, left stuff on the table. We'll see at the end of the year if that cost him or not

[flyboym3]

Overrated. He has already self confessed he is not driving like a world champion.

[PayasYouRace]

House Rules:

 

 

 

• New members are requested to make at least 30 posts before starting a new thread.
• General driver threads are now banned. Threads can still be started to discuss issues affecting a single driver, but this must be with a specific remit or point of discussion, such as the possibility of them racing in a particular series or team.

 

We are sometimes lenient on the former, but it has to be a truly worthwhile discussion.