Lando Norris ready for stressful end to the season as title bid ramps up
By Philip Duncan, PA F1 Correspondent, Austin
Lando Norris admits he is braced for a stressful and nervous end to the season as he bids to dethrone Max Verstappen as world champion.
The McLaren driver heads into this weekend’s United States Grand Prix in Austin 52 points adrift of Red Bull’s Verstappen with six rounds and 180 points still to play for.
Norris claimed the most emphatic win of his career at the previous round in Singapore and he has taken 26 points out of Verstappen’s title lead in the last four races.
But the 24-year-old, now in his sixth season on the Formula One grid, also revealed he is still adapting to the spotlight of contending for the world crown.
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“I am always going to find it odd,” he said. “Maybe it will take a few more years to settle in because I still don’t feel it was that long ago that I was watching it on TV and seeing the likes of Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and all of those guys, and now I am in that position.
“So, 100 per cent, fighting for the championship brings a lot more focus and we are in a position that we have worked very hard to be in.
“I am still relaxed but there is more pressure and a few more nerves and I am sure it is going to get pretty stressful later in the season and trickier, that is for sure. But I am comfortable, focused on myself and I am enjoying the moment.”
Verstappen and Red Bull had dominated the sport but the Dutch driver has now not won a race since the Spanish Grand Prix, nearly four months ago.
And, speaking prior to this weekend’s event in Texas, Verstappen believes he now has only a 50-50 chance of retaining his title.
But Norris insists he will not regard this season as a failure if he is unable to knock Verstappen off his perch.
“We started a very long way behind in the beginning of the year,” added Norris. “I think everyone thought Max was going to have an easy win in the championship and Red Bull were going to have another easy win in the (constructors’) championship.
“For that not to be the case after the gap that they had after round one and it not even to come from Ferrari as the main contender, but from us, a team that was probably fourth at the start of the year, I think it’s still a year to be proud of.
“And I am confident if we keep our heads down and keep pushing, we can close the gap.”
