Two-time Formula 1 race winner Lando Norris says he has been fighting for the championship since the start of the season and does not plan on giving up the chase anytime soon.
The Brit stormed to victory at the Dutch Grand Prix, beating rival and championship leader Max Verstappen by over 20 seconds.
It looked to be a shaky start for the McLaren driver after he was pipped off the start by the Dutchman, leaving him with work to do for the remainder of the race.
But with the faster car and better tyre management, the papaya blur quickly stormed past the Red Bull, and from there it was all about bringing it home.
Norris is still 70 points behind Verstappen in the race for the title, meaning he will have to claw back an average of 7.8 points per race between now and the end of the season.
It is a tough ask, but he gained eight at Zandvoort, despite his rival finishing second.
LANDO NORRIS WINS THE DUTCH GRAND PRIX!!! 🤩
An absolutely dominant drive from the @MCLARENF1 driver 💪#F1 #DUTCHGP PIC.TWITTER.COM/SSDC7BXNC9
— Formula 1 (@F1) AUGUST 25, 2024
So with a consistent car now under his feet, there is no reason why Norris cannot close the gap, especially if Verstappen has a wobble of DNF in the remaining races.
Speaking after the race, he said: “I mean, I’ve been fighting for the championship since the first race of the year. There’s no sudden decision of, now I need to do better.
“I’ve been working hard the whole year and I’m still 70 points behind Max. So it’s pretty stupid to think of anything at the minute.
“I just take one race at a time and just keep doing what I’m doing now because there’s no point to think ahead and think of the rest.
“I don’t care about it at the minute. So it’s not a question that I need to get asked every single weekend.”
Verstappen has now gone six races without a win, dating back to Barcelona.
A class act 🤩#F1 #DUTCHGP @LANDONORRIS PIC.TWITTER.COM/OA8TEFXOTI
— Formula 1 (@F1) AUGUST 25, 2024
He has still been consistent in picking up podiums but again admits it was a case of not having a good car for his home race.
He added: “This weekend was just a bad weekend in general.
“So we need to understand that.
“But the last few races already, they haven’t really been fantastic. So that, I think in a sense, was already a bit alarming.
“But we know that we don’t need to panic. We are just trying to improve the situation. And that’s what we are working on. But F1 is very complicated.”
