“We Are Definitely Weaker”: Lando Norris Snubs Any Hope for Las Vegas After Finding Resemblance With Tracks That Handicapped McLaren

Lando Norris has already written the Las Vegas GP off. The Briton has no hopes of a good result at the penultimate race of the season after he found some problematic similarities between the track at Vegas and the combination of Baku and Monza, per FormulaPassion.

The McLaren racing ace said, “This race is a little more reminiscent of those of Baku and Monza – and those tracks are not the best for us. We are definitely weaker. Long straights and low downforce have not been our priority this season in development because there are few races like this.”

McLaren did indeed have troubles at both Monza and Baku. At Monza, Norris barely managed to finish in the points while his teammate, Oscar Piastri, finished a lowly 12th. Meanwhile, in Baku, Norris finished ninth while Piastri finished 11th.

Moreover, to make matters worse, Norris will face both long straights and 90-degree corners. And the MCL60 has suffered in the slow-speed corners throughout this season. The endlessly long straights and the low-downforce packages for the weekend mean that Norris has been boxed into a lose-lose situation with McLaren.

Hence, naturally, after the highs of the last couple of races, Norris has resigned himself to fate. “Four podiums in the last five races: another one here? No, I do not think so,” he added.

Lando Norris faces a massive disadvantage in his fight for P4

Lando Norris is currently in a tight battle with Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso for fourth place in the championship. The Briton is currently three points clear of Sainz and just three points behind Alonso. Moreover, since Norris does not expect to have a strong weekend in Las Vegas, he may also lose fifth in the standings.

However, the 23-year-old is not thinking about the same. Norris stated, “It’s not something I think about, trying to beat a single driver. You go out on track and do the best job you can, getting the most points.” 

Even though McLaren do lag behind Red Bull in some areas, many still believe that they will be the team that will take the fight to the Milton Keynes outfit in 2024.