Lando Norris and the rest of the F1 2024 drivers will be studying Max Verstappen’s data and onboard footage to understand how the Red Bull driver won the Brazilian Grand Prix.

That is the claim of former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner, who believes the opportunity to “analyse everything” cannot be missed after Verstappen‘s stunning victory.

Lando Norris and more set for Max Verstappen Brazilian GP data mission

Verstappen claimed arguably one of the greatest wins in F1 history in Brazil, triumphing from 17th on the grid to take a giant step towards a fourth World Championship.

The Red Bull man holds a 62-point lead over Norris ahead of the final three races and is poised to become only the second driver after Sebastian Vettel, who previously dominated with Red Bull between 2010 and 2013, to win his first four World Championships in successive years.

After taking the lead from Alpine driver Esteban Ocon at the restart, Verstappen proceeded to set a series of fastest laps to ultimately claim victory by a margin of 19.477 seconds.

Appearing on the Red Flags podcast, Steiner claimed that Verstappen’s competitors would be glued to the data in an attempt to understand how the Dutchman was capable of such a devastating display.

Asked if the other drivers will be studying Verstappen’s onboards, he said: “Oh, yeah. Absolutely, absolutely.

“They analyse everything, everything will be analysed: how did he do it? Because that is the way you learn it, how to get there yourself.

“You cannot ignore it, you need to look at it.

“The drivers watch it to see the line, how they do things and how to get there – because if you understand how they go there, that’s the only way that you can learn it, because you haven’t got the chance if you’re sitting there [wondering]: ‘How did he do this?’

“The only way to understand it [is to watch]. There’s so much information there that you just go through it.”

Steiner denied that Verstappen’s rivals would be demoralised by such a showcase of strength by the Red Bull driver, arguing that it should have the opposite effect of inspiring the likes of Norris to get the better of him next time.

He added: “We have all been competitors.

“It’s not demoralising.  Some people strive for that, they want to get there.

“It’s one of these things that in the moment is hard to take because somebody shows you: ‘This is who I am.’

“But then he could build those up and say: ‘Next time I’m going to beat you.’”

Norris appeared to question the quality of Verstappen’s performance in the immediate aftermath of the Brazilian GP, pointing to the Red Bull driver’s ‘free’ tyre change under the red flag as evidence that it was “not talent, just luck.”

However, the McLaren driver appeared to backtrack on his comments in the days after the event, congratulating Verstappen on a “nice drive” via Instagram.

Despite having the fastest car at his disposal for much of F1 2024, Norris has struggled to make consistent inroads into Verstappen’s points lead over the course of the season, winning just three times in Miami, the Netherlands and Singapore.

Norris’s temperament has also come under scrutiny after a series of poor starts, with Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko recently referencing the 24-year-old’s perceived “mental weaknesses.”

With Red Bull suffering an alarming mid-season slump, Steiner claimed that Norris could have breezed to the World Championship if he had maintained a steady level of performance and minimised errors, claiming the McLaren MCL38 was capable of making up for its driver’s shortcomings.

Asked if Brazil proved that Norris is not yet ready to become World Champion, he explained: “You could see that.

“Let’s go back to Austin. What Max did, he took a chance and did what he did. Lando got the penalty.

“And then in Mexico,  Max came back and did the same thing again because he just pushes the envelope and Lando doesn’t. I think that is the difference between the two of them.

“In theory, Lando should win the races. He should nail the start. If he would have nailed every start – if, there’s a big if in there – then he would be the champion.

“But I always thought the car would make it up for him.

“And even with Max being the better racer, but because the McLaren at this moment is the better car if Lando was just neutral – not being fantastic but also not making mistakes – he [could have] won the championship. But obviously, now he cannot anymore.

“If Max gets an opportunity, he takes it all the time. What he did in Austin was challenging Lando, putting him in [a position] to make his mistake.

“Obviously the stewards helped in doing that one, because if they would have fined [Verstappen] there, he wouldn’t have done what he did to Mexico.”