Max Verstappen (NLD) Red Bull Racing RB20 and Lando Norris (GBR) McLaren MCL38 battle for the lead of the race. 29.06.2024. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 11, Austrian Grand Prix, Spielberg, Austria, Sprint and Qualifying Day. - www.xpbimages.com, EMail: requests@xpbimages.com © Copyright: Bearne / XPB Images

Lando Norris acknowledged he will have to do better when he fights Max Verstappen on-track than he has done this year.

Although Norris lost the drivers’ title fight to the Red Bull driver two rounds prior, McLaren secured the constructors’ championship yesterday.

Prior to the start of the season, Norris had never won a grand prix. He claimed that this year provided him confidence that he might contend for the title in the future.

After winning yesterday’s season finale in Abu Dhabi, Norris remarked, “I don’t believe in a lot of things, but the one thing I’ve probably learned this year is to believe in myself a bit more.”

 

Lando Norris, McLaren, Yas Marina, 2024
Norris has “not come out on top as much as I want”
“I know myself better than anyone else, so I know where I need to grow, where I’m weak, and where I’m strong enough. I’m always up for critiques and the like. However, I am the one who is more knowledgeable than the others—not in a haughty or self-centered manner, but I am aware that I still need to get better at many things.

Oscar Piastri, a teammate, lost to the McLaren driver in 20 of the 24 grand prix this year. He claimed that one area in which he has obviously improved is his single-lap pace.

“I’ve certainly not come out on top as often as I would have liked in certain moments as a driver, especially in my fights against Max. As much as it hurts sometimes, I’m probably happy about it now that I’m going to go into next season knowing that I can fight.

In comparison to the other drivers in the same car, he claimed that his qualifying performances were nearly twice as strong as those of the previous year. “So this season, I’ve definitely stepped up at a good level.”

He clarified, “I had a big slide in [turns] 12 and 13 and messed up my quali three lap 12 months ago. I should have done P2 on that lap.” “Everyone talked about how irritated I was with myself after the qualifier.

However, that hasn’t actually occurred this year. I’ve finished my qualifying laps. I’ve gotten better at all of those things.

Despite his belief that 2024 was “my best season [for] performance,” Norris acknowledged that it was “probably not” good enough. His chances to deprive the championship-winning driver of points were too frequently lost.

Norris remarked, “I obviously missed out on a few things.” There were perhaps three starts this season that occasionally cost me one or two spots, but they were frequently lost to Max, Budapest, Oscar, and other minor matters. However, looking back on them, none of them gave me the impression that I lacked the necessary skills, and those instances only occurred when it was directly against Max. And it’s Max: It will always be difficult to defeat Max in any state. Nobody enjoys competing against Max. Both cars were damaged in the first meeting between the two championship contenders in Austria, but Verstappen outscored Norris despite receiving a penalty. At the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Verstappen thwarted Norris’s attempts to pass him. The McLaren driver was penalized, which cost him more points to the Red Bull driver.

Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, 2024
Mexico showed “not everything he does is perfect” – Norris

Norris came out on top when the two met on-track in Mexico. However Verstappen succeeded in delaying Norris and limiting his points-scoring by forcing him off-track, costing him a place to Charles Leclerc who went on to win. The McLaren driver said the last incident between the pair made a difference in how Verstappen’s driving is perceived.

 

“I believe that Mexico was a bit of a turning point when it was demonstrated that he is not flawless in everything he does,” Norris added. “I believe that if we all returned to Austin and went back to turn 12, most drivers—I would say practically everyone on the grid—as well as people outside of the grid would have disagreed with my penalty. Either neither of us should have had one, or we both ought to have.

He said facing Verstappen was a “toe-to-toe fight with one of the best in the world,” but because he had lost so many points to Verstappen earlier in the season, he was at a disadvantage going into subsequent encounters.

“There are times when we would have crashed if I had done certain things, but you can’t see it from the outside. It’s difficult for anyone outside of you to understand what it takes to accept defeat.

“That is true, and the reason for that was our performance in the year’s first six or seven races. We lost too many points, and I was simply unable to make as much progress as I would have liked to.

“But I’m not using any of these as excuses. I’m saying I didn’t have what it took this season to fight against Max and deliver what I needed to deliver. But it certainly gave me the feeling of, ‘okay, if I improve this little bit here, this little bit here’, for the first time, I have confidence in saying I’ve definitely got what it takes.”

Norris said he has already seen signs in the final races that he has improved his performance to another level. “I feel like I’ve already done that quite a lot in the last three, four, five races. I feel like I’ve delivered some very strong results.

“But on the whole, next year is hopefully a year where I can go in and decide before the first race we’re going to fight for a championship. We’ve not ever thought of that. We’ve not even had the feeling of it from a team perspective and also for me as a driver.

“So hopefully the next year is that year. We obviously have a lot of work to do. Ferrari are going to be pushing a lot. But that’s another year. For now, I’m just going to celebrate with my team tonight and celebrate what they deserve.”

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