Formula 1: The biggest factor that's holding Lando Norris back

Lando Norris quickly turned heads as a 19-year-old rookie, regularly outclassing then-teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. at McLaren. Norris has come a long way and made some big strides over the last season or two, to the point where he is now considered in the running for the world championship.

However, as the 24-year-old has consistently seen himself toward the front of the pack battling it out for race wins, there is one thing missing from his arsenal of abilities which is still holding him back.

While Norris has quite a bit of experience, competing at the front is something he is not used to. This has cost himself and his team valuable points, and the two most recent race weekends were perfect examples of where the British driver is still lacking in certain areas.

Norris cost himself wins in Spielberg and Silverstone.

In the Austrian Grand Prix just a few weeks ago, Norris was in a tough battle with Max Verstappen for much of the race.

However, things started to heat up in the latter stages of the race, and Norris seemed to have much more pace than the Dutchman. While Verstappen tried to defend as best as he could, Norris simply was unable to make his way into the lead, despite making several divebomb attempts into the sharp turn three.

The battle ultimately resulted in the two making contact, which forced Norris to retire the car and Verstappen to box due to a puncture.

Then during the British Grand Prix, a blown strategy call from Norris himself not only made him lose out on the lead of the race to Lewis Hamilton but eventually even second place to Verstappen.

The McLaren driver was truly lost when it came to picking out which set of slick tires he wanted to put on when switching over from the intermediates. His options were to put on softs to cover Hamilton, who made the same move, or to put on a fresh set of mediums.

In the end, a lackluster (and delayed) stop, in combination with his soft tires, left him on the third step of the podium.

After the race, it was clear that Norris was disappointed with not winning when he easily could have. That was not the only thing that went wrong, as his deficit to Verstappen in the standings grew yet again.

He now trails by 84 points, having fallen further behind the three-time reigning world champion in consecutive races he should have won, even though Verstappen himself didn't win either event.

As much confidence as Norris drives with throughout a race, he loses some of that confidence and shows a bit of nerves when it comes to those crucial moments. One thing to note is that this is all happening while he has arguably the fastest car on the grid.

This is what separates him from the winners of the seven most recent world championships, Verstappen and Hamilton. Despite not always having the fastest car on the grid, they have consistently been able to stay composed to produce top-tier results and wins, even from a younger age.

Norris has everything it takes to be successful. But being a Formula 1 world champion requires an even greater level of performance, something we have seen small sparks of from the British driver. With McLaren being very competitive and poised to remain competitive for seasons to come, he better find a change in mentality if he truly wants to win a title.