McLaren’s Lando Norris laid out a simple objective to wrestle the Formula 1 Drivers’ title from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen: “doing my best every weekend.”
Norris’ lights-to-flag victory in the Singapore Grand Prix saw him cut his deficit to Verstappen in the Drivers’ standings by seven points.
With six rounds remaining in 2024, including three Sprints, the McLaren ace trails his Red Bull rival by 52 points.
Norris was asked during the Singapore GP post-race press conference to explain his method for reeling Verstappen in across the remaining rounds of the season.
“Silly question, really, isn’t it,” he replied.
“Try and do the same again, but Max is pushing hard. I’m sure Red Bull are pushing hard.
“I’m doing my best every weekend. I’m trying to get the most points I can every weekend.
“[That] includes fastest lap and things like that. But if Max keeps finishing second, there’s nothing more I can do.
“So just focus on myself and focus on us as a team. That’s it.”
Norris ‘working as hard’ as he can to thwart Verstappen
With the steady rate at which Norris is chipping away at Verstappen’s championship lead, all signs point toward a title showdown at Abu Dhabi.
Norris isn’t counting on that, however, surmising that plenty of factors are still at play in the championship battler.
“We have no idea,” Norris said if asked whether the fight will go to the very end of the 2024 season.
“‘I’m working as hard as I can, I’m sure Red Bull, Max as well, so… I’m sure there’s going to be plenty of competition until the end of the year, and as a team, the only thing we can do is try and score the most points possible. That includes trying to win.
“I still have a lot of points I’ve got to catch up and it’s not going to be easy to do it.
“It’s against Red Bull and it’s against Max, the most dominant pairing you’ve ever seen in Formula 1, from last year.”
Despite Red Bull being on a winless run that has extended to eight events, Norris stayed firm on his stance he’s up against the best of the best.
“It’s the same team and it’s the same driver,” he said. “So I have some of the toughest competition that Formula 1 has ever seen in the sport.
“We are doing a better job as a team right now because our car is quicker than theirs.
“But that’s just credit to the team doing an amazing job.
“I’m working my heart out, I’m working my butt off, to try and make sure that [championship] happens.
“[Verstappen is] trying to make sure it doesn’t happen. So we’ll have to wait and find out.”
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