Lando Norris Says He Is “Trying to Unlock Even More Performance” Ahead of Remaining Bouts With Max Verstappen

Lando Norris is eyeing to win his maiden championship this season. However, the odds are not in his favor as Max Verstappen currently has a healthy 52-point lead in the championship over him. Now, with just six races remaining to eliminate the deficit, Norris unveils his preparation to take on the reigning world champion.

“I’m working probably more than I ever have before,” said Norris as per Autosprint. “I’m doing it in every area to try to improve and eliminate as many weak points as possible.”

Beating Verstappen with such a huge disadvantage is not going to be easy. However, McLaren seemingly being the fastest car on paper level things for him. Thus, now the responsibility lies in Norris’ hands to optimize his car’s performance and outscore Verstappen in every race by a significant margin.

After the Singapore GP, Lando Norris has reduced the gap to Max Verstappen by 7 points. With 6 more race weekends to go, its anyone’s Championship.

Let’s have a look at the Drivers’ Championship contenders as we head to Austin#F1 #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/gy5nUMpCVk

— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) October 9, 2024

Realizing that it won’t be easy, Norris states, “I’m just trying to unlock even more performance,” but simultaneously, he would have to hope for Red Bull to continue to struggle. In the recent races, Red Bull hasn’t been the team to beat.

Compared to the start of the season, teams have caught up to them, and it seems their upgrades haven’t bolstered their performances. However, coming to America, things might get better for Red Bull.

Verstappen likely to maintain his advantage in the championship

Red Bull will field RB20 with a new upgrade in Austin. Reportedly, it’s their final big update of the season, as they will probably start focusing on the 2025 car after.

It is suggested that the glaring dysfunctional balance problems could be solved by it. The front section of the floor will be revised and the side edges of the floor will also be changed to manage turbulence from the rear.

While Christian Horner claims that the update might not be sufficient to outpace McLaren, it might be enough for Verstappen to maintain his lead in the championship as he does not need to beat Norris in every race. The only thing he needs is to avoid losing a huge chunk of points in the next six Grand Prix weekends, which include three sprint races.

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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