Although Lando Norris still has a shot at winning his first Drivers’ Championship in 2024, his chances would have been much stronger if not for mistakes in several races this year. He believes these errors have cost him on multiple occasions throughout the season.
While speaking to Speedweek, he said, “Sometimes it was my fault. I just didn’t manage to convert everything properly“.
Norris was likely referring to his struggles in converting pole positions into wins this season, a statistic that has significantly let him down. Despite securing an impressive five pole positions, he has managed to convert only two into victories.
One of those victories came last weekend in Singapore. Among all the pole positions he has secured this season, it was only in Singapore that he managed to maintain the lead after the first lap.
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His inability to maintain the lead has cost him significantly, as he has only managed to fight back and clinch a win on one occasion. That victory came at Zandvoort, where he lost the lead to championship leader Max Verstappen but successfully reclaimed it to secure a dominant win in front of the Dutchman’s home fans.
Norris knows he paid for his mistakes
With just six races remaining in the 2024 season, Norris finds himself 52 points behind Verstappen in the championship standings. As previously mentioned, this lead for Verstappen could have been much smaller had Norris capitalized on his opportunities.
The Briton is aware of the same as he said during the same interview, “That’s why I had to pay the price for not always working well enough“.
The price he is referring to is that his chances of winning his maiden title appear to be getting slimmer with each passing race.
Verstappen drove an outstanding race in Singapore last weekend, successfully minimizing the damage to his championship lead. Considering that he registered his lowest finish of the season at the Marina Bay Street Circuit last year (5th), he performed remarkably well by finishing second this season, despite not having the fastest car.
In contrast, Norris, despite having the fastest car, didn’t always look convincing. While he ultimately won the race by over 20 seconds ahead of Verstappen, he made several mistakes that could have cost him dearly. One such error nearly resulted in a collision with the barriers, which could have ended his race.
