Fri Sep 20 08:34:05 UTC 2024: ## Norris: Championship Still “Mine to Lose” Despite McLaren’s Lead
**Singapore, Singapore** – Lando Norris has asserted that he remains the underdog in the Formula 1 championship fight, despite McLaren’s recent dominance. While closing the gap to championship leader Max Verstappen, Norris acknowledges that Red Bull’s early season form gives them the advantage.
“It’s still for him to lose, not for me,” Norris stated, emphasizing that he still has “nothing to lose” in the title race. He pointed out Red Bull’s early dominance, winning four out of the first five races, and securing the first seven pole positions.
“They’re having a less difficult time than we had at the beginning of the year,” Norris added. “So they’re still more in the race than what we were at the beginning of the year. We’ve turned things around and at the same time, I strongly believe that they can still turn things around quite quickly.”
Despite McLaren leading the constructors’ championship, Norris believes Ferrari remains their main rival in that battle. His focus, however, remains on the drivers’ championship and closing the 59-point gap to Verstappen. He needs to outperform the Dutchman by an average of nine points per race in the remaining seven races to snatch the title.
Norris’s recent victories in Miami and Zandvoort have shifted his approach to race wins. “The easiest thing is to look at how much I celebrated Miami versus how much I celebrated in Zandvoort,” he said. “I didn’t really celebrate at all in Zandvoort, it was just a little fist bump and a couple of smiles, but that was it. If I was completely out of the championship, I probably would’ve celebrated more. But considering I know it kind of means something towards a bigger prospect, it just felt like a smaller thing on that day and the meaning of it.”
With the Singapore Grand Prix on the horizon, Norris and McLaren are looking to continue their momentum and keep the pressure on Verstappen and Red Bull.
First Piper 