Norris admits to being ‘pretty down’ after seeing his title chances almost disappear in Brazil

The Briton Lando Norris, second and last rival of Max Verstappen for the world crown in F1, admitted Wednesday in Las Vegas to having been “quite dejected” after the Brazilian Grand Prix, at the end of which “the doors” to his first title “have almost closed”.

“It was a decisive moment for the championship,” explained the Briton from McLaren, only 6th on the Brazilian circuit of Interlagos at the beginning of November, far behind the winner Verstappen.

Thanks to his victory – the first after more than four months of drought – the Dutchman has taken a serious option to conquer his fourth crown in a row, which he could win this weekend in Las Vegas.

“For a week, I was quite dejected because I realized that things were now out of my control,” Norris also admitted Wednesday evening.

In the streets of the gaming city, the McLaren driver arrives 62 points behind his rival from Red Bull. To maintain his title chances, he must not give up more than two points to Verstappen at the end of this 22nd round (out of 24) – while 60 points will remain to be distributed during the last two meetings, in Qatar and in Abu Dhabi.

“I’m not saying it’s over and I won’t say it until it is, but it’s now very far from being within reach,” he told the press. in Las Vegas.

And to continue: “we have been performing well, but I need a lot of luck, I must now somehow win three races and Max must not finish them”.

The 25-year-old, who is enjoying his best F1 season since his debut in 2019, admitted to having “probably not been quite ready to face Red Bull and Max”.

“I think I am now, but it’s probably too late (…), I wasn’t at the level I needed to be at the start of the year, but since the summer break I’ve done some very good job and I performed very well,” he assured.

“That doesn’t mean I’m a complete or perfect driver, and if you want to fight with Max you have to be close to perfect – he’s one of the best the sport has ever seen – but the main thing What I can take away from this season is that I have what it takes to fight for a world championship.