Lando Norris has hit back at the media after suggestions of negativity towards McLaren’s proposed competitiveness at Formula 1‘s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Heading into the final triple-header of the season, Norris holds a commanding lead over his title rivals Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri.
With a mammoth 49 points separating the McLaren driver and Verstappen, Norris can put the four-time F1 champion out of contention if he outscores him by nine points at Vegas.
Norris was constantly quizzed after the race at Interlagos if he hoped he could eliminate Verstappen from the equation going into the penultimate race in Qatar.
That said, in the build-up to the race weekend on the iconic Vegas strip, Norris erred on the side of caution before declaring the team’s prospects.
Last year, the MCL38 failed to crack into the top five during both qualifying and the race. Norris expects more of the same this time around as well.
One journalist, however, suggested Norris was lacking a positive outlook despite his championship status.
This prompted the Briton to hit back. “I can say what I want. I can think what I want. I always try and be as honest as I can be,” he asserted to media including Motorsport Week.
“If I don’t think we’re going to be quick, I don’t think we’re going to be quick. And I’m not saying I’m going to be 10th. I’m just saying I think it’s going to be difficult to win.
“We were a long way off – just go and look at the data from last year. Look at the race traces – we were miles off.”
Norris cited the 71-lap race at Interlagos to explain how McLaren’s lead in the Constructors’ Championship doesn’t do justice to the incumbent competitive landscape.
Despite starting from the pit lane, Verstappen made a storming charge through the field to end up on the podium – just 10 seconds off Norris.
“There have been plenty of races where we’ve not been quick enough this year. It’s not like we’ve won every single race and you’re expecting me to say those things. I’m just giving my opinion on whether I think it’s going to be easy,” he said.
“I won last weekend [at Mexico] by 30 seconds – like, very, very easy. I won today by pushing a lot more, only 10 seconds, and Max was probably the quickest out on track today.”
Norris not looking forward to Vegas
While McLaren sealed back-to-back Constructors’ titles in Singapore in September, the MCL39 has seen some sharp competition after the summer break.
Red Bull went on a rampant run from the Italian Grand Prix to win three of the last six races. And the RB21 is one of the cars that Norris is wary of putting on an upset in Vegas.
With the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari also embroiled in an intense battle for second in the standings, Norris is aware that life will not be easy for him as he edges closer to his maiden F1 title.
“We’ve been trying to work quite hard on improving those things. We know Mercedes were incredibly strong there last year, as well as Red Bull and Ferrari. I think we were the bottom of those four,” he added.
“Obviously, we’ve improved a lot of things this year, so I’m not going to be too negative about it.
“I think there’s plenty to look forward to. We know Abu Dhabi and Qatar are ones we are looking forward to. Las Vegas just a little bit less, because they’ve been probably some of our weakest races over the last two years. So let’s wait and see.”
READ MORE – Pirelli to impose 25-lap tyre limit for drivers at F1 Qatar GP
Discussion about this post