Lando Norris is adamant that he feels “quite fine” despite his DSQ at the Las Vegas Grand Prix as he attempts to wrap up his maiden Formula 1 title.
After taking the chequered flag at Vegas last weekend, Norris headed into the final two races of the season with a 42-point lead over Max Verstappen.
But all of that quickly dissipated as the FIA handed the Woking-based team a double DSQ for excessive plank wear.
With the Briton’s advantage over the Dutchman and team-mate Oscar Piastri now down to only 24 points, Norris can still seal the championship in Qatar.
Reflecting on the events from last week, however, the 26-year-old insisted that he had moved on.
“I mean, there was some small expectation of it already, so it wasn’t like it was a complete shock or out of nowhere,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“I think we were quite prepared for what the result could be. But I actually was quite fine.
“There’s a lot of effort that goes into every weekend from everyone, including myself, and it certainly made all that effort just felt like it disappeared very quickly.
“But it’s the same feeling for all of us, the mechanics, the engineers, myself, everyone in McLaren feels let down by what we had as a result, and we’re all disappointed.
“But actually I found it quite easy just to move on and have a few days off and come to this weekend. So disappointed, of course, but I was fine otherwise.”
Norris wasn’t the quickest off the line at the start and lost places to both Verstappen and George Russell on the opening lap at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.
But his final stint saw him retake second place. He then began his charge to catch the Red Bull driver, but was asked by his team to start lifting and drop his pace.
In hindsight, this was to minimise the plank wear, but Norris believes that the team were headed towards a double DSQ anyway.
“It’s not as simple as just lifting more and just being better, especially because the issue was the porpoising, it wasn’t because we were just running low. Sometimes it can be the opposite,” he explained.
“So, yeah, there was an issue, like sometimes you lift more, you get more porpoising and it’s actually a worse effect. So I think there was like a big gap behind and I tried a bit more.
“We’re talking small things, but small things at times can also add up to a bigger amount. It’s the rules, it’s the way it is.
“I was lifting the whole race, so starting any earlier would not have made a difference.”
Norris ‘excited’ to tackle Qatar challenge
In Qatar, the McLaren driver only needs to outscore the duo of Verstappen and Piastri by two points or win the Grand Prix.
Norris emphasised that despite the complications the team faced at Vegas, he is sure that it will turn things around and field a competitive package this weekend.
Having said that, the 26-year-old is also wary of the threat Red Bull can pose to his plans, with Verstappen eager to drag the title fight to the finale in Abu Dhabi.
“It’s almost more excited to just get it better for this weekend, because we’ll have more performance,” he asserted.
“But every team, when you’re in Formula 1, you’re fighting for race wins and everything, you always have to push things to the limit, meaning that’s exactly what we did in Las Vegas, because it’s a lot more complicated.
“But at the same time, no, we still want to win these last few races. We still need to push everything to the limit, as you always do, because Red Bull are just as quick, so if we don’t put things in the right condition, like in Brazil, they’ll be quicker than us and they’ll win.
“But, yeah, we’re here because we want to win, we’re going to fight till the end and that’s what I want to do as well.”
Norris isn’t suffering from sleepless nights after the fiasco at Vegas either.
He highlighted how, despite the result, the pace he showcased in the MCL39 was a silver lining that he will take with him into the remaining two race weekends.
“For now I feel good. I’ve had a nice few days, I came already on around Monday morning, so I’ve been here a while,” revealed Norris.
“Just played some golf, played some paddle, enjoyed some days off, enjoyed some warm weather for once, I feel like it’s been a while.
“So now I feel good, I feel excited for this weekend. I don’t feel like I had a bad weekend last weekend or we had a bad result, so that’s a good thing.”
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