The final sprint of the 2024 F1 season begins this weekend in Sin City with the second Las Vegas Grand Prix. In sharp contrast to last year's inaugural event, where Max Verstappen and Red Bull had already won the drivers' and constructors' championships, this season offers a chance for both titles to be up for grabs.
Verstappen has a chance to win the drivers' championship again this weekend, but there's one driver left in front of him: Lando Norris. The McLaren driver took his first win of the season at the Miami Grand Prix and has been putting pressure on Verstappen all year. However, Verstappen's incredible drive in the rain at the Sao Paulo GP saw him race through the field to take a stunning victory despite starting from the back of the grid, and the Red Bull driver now holds the Drivers' Championship for the fourth consecutive year. got the trophy. .
Remarks at FIA press conference Ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Norris admitted he will need a lot of “luck” to survive this weekend's drivers' championship race.
“Yeah, it's tough. To be honest, I don't know much about chess, but it's probably a check,” Norris said when asked to compare the current drivers' championship race to chess. Ta. “I can survive. I can fight. That's what I'm doing, but at some point I realize it's not going to go my way and it's not going to go my way.” Masu.
“But you never know, so I'm not saying it's over and I won't say it's over until it's over, but you know, it's very much out of reach at this point. We continue to perform well, but I'm rather lucky if I can do it. And it's like, in a way, I have to win three races and Max has to finish three races. Yes, check. And I'm all alone. And Max has all his pieces ready to attack me. But that's probably all I know. ”
Norris also addressed the concept of luck, which was a flashpoint in his post-race comments in Brazil.
“You have to learn to accept it. I think there were two things that made it tough for Brazil. One was that things like this happen late in the season. , I think it's more like that and just seeing what happens later. But this was pretty much the defining moment of the championship,” Norris began. “That was a championship-defining moment. The door is pretty much closed.
“I was pretty depressed for a week after Brazil because I had the realization that things were now outside of my control and not necessarily within my reach. It's a difficult realization because it's so high and it's quite demoralizing and not the best feeling to have it shattered all of a sudden. You learn to accept that. That's life,'' continued the McLaren driver. “I admitted it, and I admitted it in Miami, we were lucky to win with the safety car in Miami and that's the strategy. I think we still had a little more luck in Brazil, but that's F1. That's the race. I'm not complaining about it. Maybe luck will be on your side. That's life. I won't. One day it will be the way you want it to be. Next time it won't be.”
The McLaren driver was then asked about 2025. Earlier this year, Norris said that no matter how 2024 ends, it will be a year he is “proud of.” Looking ahead to next season, Norris outlined that he learned this year that he has what it takes to compete on the front lines, which will put him in a better position next year.
“That I have what it takes. I think this is the first time in the last six years of Formula 1 that we have had the opportunity to fight at the front, and for the last six years we haven't had that,” Norris said. I cut it. “So this is a first opportunity for us and a first opportunity for me to find out where we stand.
“And I definitely wasn't at the level that I needed to be at the beginning of the year, and even at the Miami point of the season. Since the summer break, I've done a very good job and my best performance to date. So, to be honest, I'm very happy with how the last few months have gone. I wouldn't change a lot of things that have happened.
“But I still need some fine-tuning. I still need to improve. That's obvious. As you know, I'm not completely satisfied with the way I'm doing things. Things I need to improve on. But for the first time, I can say with confidence that I have what I think it takes to compete for a championship. That doesn't mean I'm perfect, that's for sure. ,” Norris said. “And when you compete with a driver like Max who is close to that, if you want to challenge him, and if you want to challenge the teams around us, you have to be close to perfect. So I'm confident I think the main thing I can take away from that is having the belief that I have what it takes to compete for a championship.”
Like all F1 drivers, Norris approaches the sport with brutal honesty. A stopwatch does not lie, so difficult results and difficult moments cannot be avoided. Although he may fall short of the drivers' championship this season, Norris has shown this year that he and McLaren are ready to fight at the front, which could be of great help in the coming seasons.
