Lando Norris talks about his views on the Championship battle and qualifying performance ahead of the F1 Spanish GP.
In Monaco, Lando Norris scored his second win of the season and is now only 3 points short of taking back the lead of the Championship from teammate Oscar Piastri.
A feat the McLaren Driver could already achieve in this weekend’s Spanish GP.
In the press conference ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix, Norris admits that leading the Championship is a ‘great feeling’, but that it isn’t changing the way he approaches a weekend.
The Briton is focusing on winning as many races as he can, knowing that the Championship battle is still quite open.
Norris also names Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, as well as the Ferrari drivers, as potential rivals for him and McLaren teammate Piastri.
“I think you ask me this question every week.
“It’s the same answer. Like I say always, it’s a great feeling to be in the lead of the championship and to have more points than everyone.
“But again, it’s not something I look at.
“It’s not something that changes anything I do day to day.
“Doesn’t change how hard I work or what I try to achieve.
“I just try and win this weekend, and I’ll try and win in Montreal, and I’ll try and win in Austria.
“It’s got nothing to do with what position I am.
“And no, I think mathematically, there’s still probably the whole grid that can win the championship at the minute.
“So, if you think it’s just out of me and Oscar [Piastri], then I think you’re a bit silly.
“I think there’s plenty of opportunities.
“Max [Verstappen] can still win. I think Ferrari— they’re Ferrari, I expect them to get better through the season.
“But yeah, come on.
“We’re racing Max [Verstappen] every weekend.
“He’s been on the podium several times. He’s won races.
“He beat us in Imola fair and square because he was quicker.
“So, I don’t know what possibly makes you think that it’s only between me and Oscar.”
Arriving at the Spanish GP, with a third of the season already passed, Norris has been clear that his Achilles’ heel has been Qualifying.
While Saturdays, by his admission, have been marked by ‘ups and downs’, Norris feels satisfied with his performance come race day.
“Honestly, I think it’s pretty obvious. I think it’s fairly simple. I’ve made it clear on where my struggles have been.
“The things I’ve found a little more difficult, especially this season, compared to previous ones.”
“Saturdays have had a lot more ups and downs. My Sundays—95% of the races this season—I’ve been pretty happy with.
“Of course, there are still some races that haven’t gone perfectly.
“If I look back on Miami and things like that, if I could redo things, of course, I would do some things differently, but some things just go the way they do.
“My Sundays I’ve been very happy with.
“I’m always very confident going into Sundays, and I’ve been this whole season.
“So yeah, it’s just tweaking little things, and that’s more just the position that I start the race.
“That’s been the biggest thing.
“Like I said before, Monaco is the area I’ve been working on the most.
“It’s the one I’m putting the most time and effort into because it’s the one that allows me to win races or not.”
In Monaco, Norris delivered under immense pressure in what is likely the most important Qualifying session of the season.
Norris names Monaco as his seasonal best performance in Qualifying, and likely best of his career so far.
Securing pole on a challenging track like Monaco gave a boost to his confidence, says Norris, though he admits that there is still work to be done.
“I said probably in every interview I did there that it did.
“I was happier with my pole on Saturday than I was with my win on Sunday because everyone knows Saturday is the day you’ve got to show up and do your job.
“And of course, in the most tricky track of the season, under the most pressure, the most tense, the session where the most stuff can go wrong, with the biggest consequences—it was probably my best qualifying performance of the whole season.
“So, I definitely think it gave me a boost.
“But it’s not like I come into here feeling better than ever.
“There are still plenty of things I’m working on, things I know I need to do better on and try to improve.
“But that’s not just a one-week or two-week thing.
“It takes time, and I’m patient with that.
“I’m trying to work as quickly as I can.
“But sometimes it’s a longer and more difficult process.
“That’s what it is sometimes when you’re against the best guys in the world.
“So, I don’t expect different.
“But yeah, a lot of good things came out of Monaco.”
Norris will get another chance to put his hard work to the test in this weekend’s Spanish GP.
