F1 pundit labels Norris ‘second best driver in F1’ after starring Brazil drive

Norris picked up his sixth second-place of the season as he finished behind Verstappen once again.

It was another strong race from the British driver, who finished comfortably clear of Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez behind.

His latest big points haul means he now sits just 31 points behind Lewis Hamilton for third in the championship.

During Sky’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix coverage, Chandhok - who raced in F1 between 2010 and 2011 - was asked if he thought Norris was the best driver on the grid besides Verstappen.

He replied: Yes I think so. He’s driving so well, so consistently. There were those moments - qualifying in Qatar and Mexico - where he made errors. 

“So he’s not operating at the level of Max, who is week-in week-out error-free. But this weekend was superb, really superb.”

Former W Series driver Naomi Schiff praised Norris for his aggressive start at Interlagos as he went from sixth on the grid up to second on Lap 1.

“He got a very good launch off the grid. It went very wrong for some of the others,” she said. “This is such a tricky start - the first part of the grid is going uphill, it flattens out in the middle, then goes downhill. 

“That creates a concertina effect. That’s why you have so much more going on at the start. On top of that, the grandstand yesterday covered first to 13th in the shade, everyone behind was in the sun. Today, it was split between one side of the grid and the other. 

“One side was in the sun, that possibly gives more grip. That’s why you have more action on this side. You’ve got to take a risk, and he did take a risk. He didn’t yesterday and he was self-critical about being too cautious. It paid off.”