Lando Norris Fires Back At Championship Question After Dominant Dutch Win - 'Don't Care About It'

Chris Ladd | Aug 26, 2024

Jun 8, 2024; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; McLaren driver Lando Norris (GBR) races during qualifying at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports / Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

Lando Norris, the McLaren driver, has downplayed expectations about winning the Formula 1 title this season. Despite a strong performance and winning the Dutch Grand Prix, where he started from the pole position, Norris was quick to temper any speculation about a potential championship challenge. He emphasized that it would be "stupid" to shift focus onto title ambitions at this stage.

During the race, Norris had a solid start but couldn't maintain his lead, falling behind Max Verstappen, the reigning champion and local favorite, into the first corner. Although McLaren has shown significant improvements this season, Norris remains realistic about their chances, prioritizing consistent performance over championship talk.

Norris had the fastest lap of the race on his final tour, despite being on used hard tires. His winning margin of 22.896 seconds was the largest in a race not won by Verstappen since Lewis Hamilton's victory at the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Even with this remarkable display and McLaren's continued improvements, Norris remained grounded when discussing his title chances. When asked by Autosport if he felt confident about his championship prospects, Norris responded assertively, stating:

“I've been fighting for the championship since the first race of the year. There's no sudden decision now.

“I need to do better. I've been working hard the whole year and I'm still 70 points behind Max. So it's pretty stupid to think of anything at the minute. I just take one race at a time and just keep doing what I'm doing now because there's no point in thinking ahead and thinking of the rest.

“I don't care about it at the minute. I'm just focused on one race at a time, so it's not a question that I need to get asked every single weekend.”

Norris' ability to close the 70-point gap to Max Verstappen over the remainder of the season is still uncertain. Despite his strong performance at the Dutch Grand Prix, the question of whether he can maintain this level of competitiveness remains open.

However, with the Italian Grand Prix just around the corner, Norris remained cautious about his prospects for repeating his success. He declined to offer an optimistic outlook on making it back-to-back victories, preferring to take a measured approach as the season progresses. His focus appears to be on consistent performance rather than setting specific expectations for each race.

Norris acknowledged that any of the top teams could lead on any given race weekend. "Anyone could be on top," he insisted, referring to Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull, and McLaren. He noted Ferrari's strong performance at the Dutch Grand Prix, admitting that they were quicker than anticipated. At the same time, Norris suggested that Red Bull might have had a tougher time than usual.

He offered up a pragmatic approach to the upcoming races, emphasizing the importance of focusing on the present rather than speculating about future outcomes.

"There's no point thinking how we're going to do next weekend," he said. "We'll just get there and work hard and wait till we get there. There's no point thinking ahead."