The McLaren driver needs to outscore Verstappen by an average of nine points every race to beat the Dutchman.
Lando Norris says he still has “nothing to lose” in his Formula One title fight with Max Verstappen.
While slowly closing the gap on Verstappen in the drivers’ championship, Norris has unable to capitalize on the Red Bull’s recent decline in pace.
He is currently 59 points behind the Dutchman going into Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix, which means he needs to outscore him by an average of nine points per race over the next seven races this season.
His McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri has been in better form recently, winning in Baku last time out, while Norris recovered from a Q1 elimination to finish fourth, one position ahead of Verstappen and with a point for the fastest lap.
McLaren now leads the constructors’ standings after its performance at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and Norris has previously identified Ferrari as its major challenger in that championship.
But, in his own personal battle with Verstappen, he denied the notion that the driver’s title is his to lose, given that McLaren is presently the fastest vehicle on the field.
Norris cited the Red Bull package’s dominance early in the season, when Verstappen won four of the first five races, with only brake problems in Australia interfering, and took the first seven pole positions, to demonstrate that “they were beating us by bigger margins than we’re beating them by.”
“It is still up to him to lose, not me.” “I’m still the one with nothing to lose at the moment,” he remarked.
“If you look back to the beginning of the year, Red Bull remained dominant. I mean, they won the first four or five races of the season. Max had the first eight pole positions of the year, and they were outperforming us by larger percentages.
“So they are having a less tough time than we had at the start of the year. So they’re still more in the race than we were at the start of the year. We’ve turned things around, but I’m still certain that they can turn things around quickly.
“Really, it’s only been the last two where I’d say they’ve been off the pace, both in qualifying and, maybe more so, throughout the race. So I believe individuals should focus more specifically on what is obvious and in front of them rather than making judgments or generalizations.
Norris has won twice this year, his maiden Formula One triumph coming in Miami before going on to win in Verstappen’s home race in Zandvoort.
Those results have inspired Norris to compete for the title this season, and he has described the shift in his mental approach now that he understands what he needs to do to win the championship.
“The easiest thing to do is compare how much I celebrated in Miami to how much I celebrated in Zandvoort.” I didn’t really rejoice in Zandvoort; it was just a fist bump and a couple of grins,” he explained.
“If I was completely out of the championship I probably would’ve celebrated more, but considering I know it kind of means something towards a bigger prospect, it just felt like a smaller thing on that day and the meaning of it.”
