Norris: F1 title was over after first six races, aim now is beating Ferrari

Lando Norris feels that the 2024 Formula 1 championship was already lost in the first six races, long before he entered contention, but nonetheless was proud to have taken it to Las Vegas.

The Briton effectively called time on his outside championship bet after the Brazilian Grand Prix, and needs to outscore Max Verstappen by three points in Las Vegas to at least remain in mathematical contention until Qatar’s sprint race.

Norris would then need to win the Qatar sprint and grand prix, the Abu Dhabi race, and secure both points for fastest lap – all while hoping Verstappen fails to score a single point.

After qualifying behind Verstappen for the Las Vegas race, Norris said that he was not too tied to the outcome of the race, and only wanted to focus on getting the best out of himself and the car, noting that Red Bull was nonetheless beatable.

“I mean, whether he wins or not tomorrow, for me it’s not going to change anything,” stated Norris.

“He’s pretty likely to win the championship, but I’m here to race and do my best in every single race I can, whether Max finishes ahead or not, that’s life. He’s only just ahead of us today. 

“I think we have a chance to beat them tomorrow, but I’ll go out and do my best like I do in every single race. And whatever the outcome is, the outcome is.

“[I’m proud], of course. I mean, I’m the one there fighting Max. So I’m proud that it’s me and not anyone else.

“Do I wish it could have gone a bit further down the line? Sure. But the race [for the title] was lost in the first six races of the year. That’s when Max dominated, when Red Bull were too far ahead and points got to a gap which was just too difficult to claw back.

“So I’m proud. I’m happy we brought it as far, and it’s us, no one else.”

Watch: From Power-Nap to Pole Position and… Putting? – F1 Las Vegas Qualifying Analysis

Norris agreed that the main focus of the race was in beating the Ferraris to ensure McLaren could keep hold of its constructors’ championship lead.

He hoped that the harder tyres would offer McLaren more performance, having felt that the way the MCL38 works its front tyres means that it is susceptible to graining the soft compound.

“At the minute, [hoping to beat Ferrari is] what you would say. It could be that tomorrow, we put on the hard tyre, and things come our way a little bit,” he said.

“Every race this year, we struggled with graining. We’ve not been good on the softer tyres. That’s the same now, but it’s almost the case in a quali lap, you almost start to grain the tyres already. 

“We struggle a lot in these kind of conditions. So I’m hoping, when you put a medium on…they still grain very easily, but when you put the hard on, hopefully things click a little bit.

“It’s just our weaknesses on how the car is with the front tyres. It’s been an issue for a while. We’ve not been able to tackle as much as what I would have liked at this point. So we’re paying the price for that kind of thing.

“We’ll be optimistic and we’ll look ahead to what we can achieve. But, yeah, I don’t expect anything magical for sure, but it’s a long race.”

Photos from Las Vegas GP Practice & Qualifying