Lando Norris had a complicated race in Las Vegas. Driving a car with no pace, he was unable to catch up with the Ferraris in front of him, ultimately finishing the Grand Prix where he started, in sixth position.
In addition to George Russell's uncompromising victory, this weekend above all put an end to the fight for the drivers' championship, seeing Max Verstappen claim a fourth consecutive crown. Norris, the Dutchman's first rival, had already given up on the title after the São Paulo Grand Prix. He therefore wanted to duly congratulate the Red Bull driver.
“All my congratulations to him. He deserved it”Norris said. “He hasn't made a misstep all year. That's his strength, he doesn't have any bad… he doesn't have any weak points. When he had the fastest car , he dominated the races when he wasn't in the fastest car, he was always right behind us and he almost won the races.
“He has no flaws. He hasn't had a bad race all year. His worst race was what? Fifth place or something. He just drove like Max always did done, that is to say perfectly. And I cannot deny it.”
Experiencing his first season at the wheel of a competitive single-seater and his first fight for a world championship, Norris is convinced that he has still put a few spokes in Verstappen's wheels. He knows he has plenty to learn coming from a driver as complete as the four-time world champion.
“I think he had a relatively easy season”he declared. “I think if we had had a better car at the start of the year, we would have fought him a lot more, and he would have been under a lot more pressure.”
“I think we put him under pressure. As soon as we did, he made some mistakes and it showed. The team made some mistakes. He made some mistakes, but on the “Over the whole season he did very little, and that's what… that's what makes him so good.”
“He didn't have a bad qualifying. He didn't have a bad race. I think his worst race was probably Budapest or something? And he still finished what, fifth? He pulls everything what he can from the car each time. And it's always impressive to see.
Le quadruple champion du monde Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing.
Photo de: Red Bull Content Pool
Although he was unable to get his hands on the champion trophy, Norris remains proud of his season and especially that of his team, which gave him a car competitive enough to become the main threat to Verstappen this season. Which he intends to repeat from the first races next year.
“I am proud of what we have accomplished”said Norris. “My first victory in Formula 1, my first three [victoires]and no one else fought [Verstappen]. It's me and it's McLaren. So I am proud of what we have accomplished. Could we have done better? Absolutely. Do I think we could have won the championship even with a perfect season? I don't think so. So I'm happy to finish second.”
“I'm very proud of the whole team for fighting for so long, for catching up and making up so much. Next year we will start the season with a car that we believe we can win with. the championship in the first race, something we haven't managed to do in the last six years, and I'm happy about that.”
Comments collected by Oleg Karpov and Mark Mann-Bryans
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