Lando Norris has expressed he is “proud” that McLaren has taken the Formula 1 title fight in 2024 to this stage based on Max Verstappen’s earlier-season dominance.
Verstappen has his initial chance to seal the deal in Las Vegas as he will line up ahead of Norris, who must outscore the Dutchman to prolong the championship race.
Red Bull’s seismic advantage in the nascent rounds appeared to have Verstappen on course to cruise to another title as he claimed four victories in the first five races.
However, Norris seizing his maiden win in Miami proved to be a turning point as McLaren’s upgrades, coupled with Red Bull struggling, saw it become the pacesetters.
But while he has managed to reduce Verstappen’s gap during the campaign, Norris and McLaren have rued several mistakes preventing him from getting within range.
The largest blow to Norris’ title ambitions came at the previous round in Brazil as he slipped from pole position to sixth in the wet as Verstappen triumphed from 17th.
Norris, though, is adamant that Verstappen and Red Bull’s winning run in the opening races is what will have cost him the championship rather than his shortcomings.
Asked whether he was proud about how he has fought this season, Norris told media including Motorsport Week: “Of course.
“I mean, I’m the one there fighting Max, so I’m proud that it’s me and not anyone else.
“Do I wish it could have gone a bit further down the line? Sure. But the race was lost in the first six races of the year.
“That’s when Max dominated, it’s when Red Bull were too far ahead and the points got to a gap which was too difficult to claw back.
“I’m proud, I’m happy we’ve brought it this far. And it’s us, no one else.”
Norris denies title situation will alter his approach
Norris, who will start sixth in Las Vegas amid McLaren’s struggles in low-grip conditions, has claimed that the title situation won’t impact how he approaches the race.
“I mean, whether he wins or not tomorrow, for me it’s not going to change anything,” Norris admitted.
“He’s pretty likely to win the championship, but I’m here to race and do my best in every single race I can.
“Whether Max finishes ahead or not, that’s life. He’s only just ahead of us today, I think we have a chance to beat him tomorrow.
“But, you know, I’ll go out and do my best like I do in every single race. And whatever the outcome is, the outcome is.”
Norris admits McLaren in damage limitation mode
McLaren is poised to witness the team’s 36-point lead over Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship diminish this weekend as its rival qualified in second and fourth.
Questioned whether this race has become damage limitation in the contest with Ferrari, Norris responded: “At the minute, that’s what you would say.
“It could be that tomorrow we put on the hard tyre and things come our way a little bit.
“Every race this year we struggled with graining, we’ve not been good on the softer tyres.
“It’s the same now, but it’s almost the case in a quali lap, you almost start to grain the tyres already. We struggle a lot in these kind of conditions.
“So I’m hoping when we put the Medium on a little bit, I mean they still grain very easily, but when we put the Hard on, hopefully things click a little bit.
“It’s just our weaknesses on how the car is with the front tyres. It’s been an issue for a while.
“We’ve not been able to tackle it as much as what I would have liked at this point. I’m not paying the price for that kind of thing.”
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