Lando Norris sees himself as an outsider in the World Cup fight against Max Verstappen – Why he is not pursuing a special strategy in the duel with the world champion
It’s a bit of a “silly question,” replies Lando Norris, when asked about his victory at the Singapore Grand Prix, what his strategy is in the last six races of the season in the fight for the world championship against Max Verstappen?
“I do my best every weekend. I try to score as many points as possible every weekend. That includes setting the fastest lap and things like that,” Norris explained after his third victory of the season on Sunday.
“But if Max continues to finish second and Red Bull continues as they did this weekend, then I can’t do more. So I’m focusing on myself and on us as a team,” the Briton emphasized.
What Norris means: With a still 52-point deficit on Verstappen, he can no longer become world champion on his own since the Singapore race. If Verstappen finishes second in every race from now on, he will definitely win his fourth world championship title.
From that point of view, Norris has little strategic options anyway – except to do his best in every race. And the Briton also has little sympathy for the question of whether the World Cup battle will only be decided in the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi.
Norris: Red Bull still the same team as in 2023
“I don’t know. I can’t predict the future,” he says with a chuckle, ‘That’s another stupid question. We’re doing our best and so are they [at Red Bull]. He reminds us, ’I still have a lot of points to catch up on, and it won’t be easy.”
“It’s against Red Bull and against Max, the most dominant pairing anyone has ever seen in Formula 1,” said Norris, referring to the 2023 season, when Verstappen set a new record with ten consecutive Grand Prix victories.
To that end, Red Bull won 21 of the 22 races in the season, and even if they are significantly less successful in 2024, Norris emphasizes: “It’s the same team and it’s the same driver. So I have one of the toughest competitors Formula One has ever seen.”
“We’re doing a better job as a team at the moment because our car is faster than theirs,“ he emphasizes, and explains: ‘So I’m doing my best, I’m working my ass off to make it happen. He’s trying to make sure it doesn’t happen.’
”So we’ll have to wait and find out,” he explains pragmatically.