Catching Verstappen by Abu Dhabi a challenge "entirely possible" according to Norris

Victorious for the third time this season in Singapore, the man who is now 52 points behind the championship leader hopes that the fight for the title will continue until Abu Dhabi... but he knows that he will have to string together good performances to believe in it until the end.

Published on 25/09/2024 à 10:22

Dorian Grangier

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Catching Verstappen by Abu Dhabi a challenge "entirely possible" according to Norris

© Xavi Bonilla / DPPI

Believe in your chances until the end: Lando Norris is chasing the world title and he does not intend to give up while the crown is still mathematically possible. After the Singapore Grand Prix, which he won brilliantly, the Briton is 52 points behind the championship leader, Max Verstappen. A gap that is narrowing from weekend to weekend, since the British Grand Prix (84 points difference between the two men), the driver McLaren recovered 32 points from the pilot Red Bull.

Since the start of the school year at Zandvoort, Lando Norris has really gotten the better of Max Verstappen with two wins to zero (80 points for the Briton against 54 for the Dutchman) and even when he was surprised in Q1 in Baku, he managed to finish in front and pick up a few points on his opponent in the championship. However, the comeback is slow and Max Verstappen, who plays the grocer, is for the moment managing his lead despite an RB20 that regressed during the summer. Before the final sprint and the last six meetings of the season, Lando Norris knows that he must continue at this frenetic pace in order to keep all his chances in the championship.

“This is what I have to do, this is what I need, this is what we have to do as a team., said the Englishman after his victory in Singapore from Sky Sports F1. We executed perfectly as a team, especially to get Oscar up to third. But we have to do it every race until the end of the year if I want to have a chance of catching Max [Verstappen]. We are working hard and if I continue to do what I did this weekend, then it is definitely possible.

Beating the Red Bull-Verstappen tandem is a tough task for Norris

Asked if he expects the title fight to go down to the final race in Abu Dhabi (December 6-8), Norris replied: "I hope so. I still have a lot of points to make up and it won't be easy. We are up against Red Bull and Max, the most dominant duo you have ever seen in Formula 1, since last year. It's the same team and it's the same driver. I'm facing one of the toughest challenges that Formula 1 has ever known."

“We are doing a better job as a team at the moment because our car is faster than theirs, but it is a credit to the team that is doing a great job, being smarter and doing cooler things, like the mini-DRS and other things.he concludes. I'm giving it my all, I'm pushing hard to make it happen, and [Max Verstappen] is trying to make sure it doesn't happen."

Deprived of the point for the best lap at the end of the race in Singapore by Daniel Ricciardo, Lando Norris must now take back 8,66 points per weekend on average… which means that if he wins all the races (Sprint included) and Max Verstappen finishes second every time, the Dutchman would still be champion. A scenario which seems however very unlikely as the four Top Teams are so close, with Oscar piastri, Ferrari and Mercedes as referee of this duel which promises to be epic until the end of the season.

ALSO READ > Podcast Outlap #6 – Is Lando Norris now the favorite for the title?

Dorian Grangier

A young journalist nostalgic for the motorsport of yesteryear. Raised on the exploits of Sébastien Loeb and Fernando Alonso.

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2 Comment (s)

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Ephraime

25/09/2024 at 09:09 a.m.

He is making a monumental mistake. Too much additional pressure because Max will do what is necessary to keep his crown.

Yves-Henri RANDIER

25/09/2024 at 03:16 a.m.

Sure, with 6 GPs still on the calendar and not counting the Saturday circuses, everything is mathematically possible, but the 3,5 game between McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and Max's Red Bull (TexMex being too transparent) can greatly contribute to distributing the big points. If the suspense holds until Abu Dhabi, let's hope that the "tragi-comic" outcome of 2021 is not repeated!

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