With Lando Norris trailing behind Max Verstappen by 62 points with three rounds to go, the battle for the drivers’ title is all but over ahead of the F1 Las Vegas GP.
The Dutchman will secure his fourth successive world championship title on Saturday as long as he takes the chequered flag ahead of the McLaren driver.
At the press conference ahead of the F1 Las Vegas GP, Norris spoke at length about his expectations from the race weekend and the status of the drivers’ championship. Furthermore, he commented on the chances of McLaren winning the constructors’ title and his learnings from the 2024 F1 season.
“Reasonably” confident about F1 Las Vegas GP results
At the inaugural F1 Las Vegas GP in 2023 Norris crashed out early in the race. In terms of how confident he is about McLaren’s performance this year, the Brit replied, “Reasonably, I think.”
“I mean, a lot has changed since last year. So, yeah, not my finest race, that’s for sure. But Oscar had a good pace. The car was actually pretty reasonable in the race.”
Norris added that he anticipates the top three teams on the F1 grid to put up a good show in Las Vegas.
“Same as what we’ve been seeing: a good fight between Red Bull, Ferrari, ourselves, Mercedes. That’s all I expect.”
Realisation that WDC fate was sealed in Brazil
Despite starting on pole in São Paulo, Norris lost the lead again on lap 1 and finished the race in a disappointing sixth place. On the topic of his mindset coming into Vegas, the eight-time pole-sitter confirmed that his approach hasn’t changed considerably.
Nonetheless, the 25-year-old admitted that he felt his championship chances slip from his grasp after Verstappen secured victory in Brazil, starting from P17 on the grid.
With the burden of the title fight off his shoulders, Norris further stated that he intends to perform consistently and enjoy the last three races.
“It’s a tough one. Not a lot has changed, honestly. I kind of know the position I’m in now, and probably I have less to lose now.
“You know [what] the gap to Max [Verstappen] is. For the first time probably when I’ve looked at the gap myself and had the realisation of where things stand and I think post-Brazil was a tough one for me. Because it was the first moment realistically when I’m like it’s tough to achieve first position now.
“We were on such a good run of form. Little by little, you know. It’s hard to get any big points on Max because he didn’t have any bad races. But I had a tough week because things just didn’t go our way and my kind of real fight for the championship was slimmed by the biggest margin of almost of the whole year.
“But it doesn’t change my approach. My approach has been correct. My approach has been the right approach for the last few weekends. I’ve been performing well. I’ve been doing a good job. So from my side, I need to not change anything, but I think I can probably just go out and enjoy a little bit more.”
The WCC could go either way after F1 Las Vegas GP
The Woking-based team currently leads the constructors’ championship by 36 points. In terms of whether McLaren or Ferrari has the momentum going into the final three rounds of the season, Norris commented that the competition is tight.
While commending the Scuderia on their car development, the Brit also refused to downplay the challenge that Red Bull can pose. He opined that the outcome of the F1 Las Vegas GP would be determined by the team that maximises its potential the most this weekend.
Revealing that he anticipates McLaren to have the upper hand in Qatar, Norris asserted that he expects the SF-24 to deliver a strong performance at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit once more.
“It’s close. I mean, Ferrari have been strong for a long time. They have two very good drivers. They’re a very good team. They’ve clearly improved their car a good amount and found a better direction to head down.
“And they’ve become, probably with us, and some races a bit better, some races a little bit behind, some races the same, as a competitor. I think maybe a little bit with them, but we’re close. Red Bull are close at the same time.
“So it’s more who can just do a better performance on the weekend.
“But we do know that Vegas is probably a track that will suit the Ferraris a bit more. It suited them well last year. But Qatar, we know maybe will be more favourable to us again.”
Lessons for the F1 2025 season
On the topic of his first championship battle and the lessons he seeks to carry forward into the new season, Norris responded that he has confidence in his abilities.
“I have what it takes. I think it’s the first time in the last six years of Formula 1 when we’ve had a chance to fight at the front, we’ve not been able to do that for the last six years.
“So this is our and my first opportunity to do so, and my first opportunity to see where I stand.”
Confessing that he failed to extract his full potential at the beginning of the season, the three-time race winner proclaimed that he has been satisfied with his performance since the summer break. He also insisted that he wouldn’t alter how his season has unfolded so far.
“And I definitely was not at the level I needed to be at the beginning of the year, and even Miami point of the season. Since the summer break, I feel like I’ve done a very good job and performed very, very well, by far some of my best performances that I’ve done.
“So I’ve been very happy, actually, with how the last few months have gone, honestly. I wouldn’t change many things that have happened.”
Clear idea about the areas of improvement
While he acknowledged that he needs to refine his skills in certain areas to beat elite drivers like Verstappen, Norris added that his biggest takeaway from the season is that he has the recipe to put together a convincing championship battle in 2025.
“But I still need to make tweaks. I still need to improve on things. That’s clear. You know, I’m not completely satisfied with how I’ve done. I definitely know I need to make improvements.
“But for the first time, I’m confident to say that I have what I think I need to fight for a championship.
“Doesn’t mean I’m complete, doesn’t mean I’m perfect, that’s for sure.
“And when you’re competing against drivers who are close to that, like Max [Verstappen], you have to be close to perfect if you want to challenge him, you know, and challenge the teams we are around.
“So I’m confident and I think the main thing I can take away is I have faith that I have got what it takes to fight for a championship.”
