Lando Norris says he has “less to lose” now that the gap to Formula 1 World Championship leader Max Verstappen has grown to 62 points.
At the last race in Brazil Verstappen won while Norris fell back to sixth place, having started from pole.
The McLaren driver says that with his chances of beating the Dutchman now mathematically much slimmer he can “enjoy a little bit more” the final races of the season.
“I kind of know the position I’m in now, and probably I have less to lose now,” he said when asked about his mindset ahead of the Las Vegas GP.
“For the first time, probably when I’ve looked at the gap myself, and had the realisation of where things stand, and I think post-Brazil was a tough one for me because it was the first moment realistically when I’m like it’s tough to achieve first position now.
“We were on such a good run of form, little by little, you know, it’s hard to get any big points on Max, because he didn’t have any bad races, but I had a tough week, because things just didn’t go our way, and my kind of real fight for the championship was slimmed by the biggest margin of almost of the whole year, so a tricky one.
“But it doesn’t change my approach. My approach has been correct. My approach has been the right approach for the last few weekends. I’ve been performing well. I’ve been doing a good job.
“So from my side, I need to not change anything, but I think I can probably just go out and enjoy a little bit more.”
Norris insisted that whatever happens in this year’s championship he’s proved to himself that he’s capable of fighting for the title in the future.
“I think it’s the first time in the last six years of F1 when we’ve had a chance to fight at the front,” he said. “We’ve not been able to do that for the last six years.
“So this is our and my first opportunity to do so, and my first opportunity to see where I stand. And I definitely was not at the level I needed to be at the beginning of the year, and even the Miami point of the season.
“Since the summer break, I feel like I’ve done a very good job and performed very, very well, by far some of my best performances that I’ve done. So I’ve been very happy, actually, with how the last few months have gone, honestly. I wouldn’t change many things that have happened.
“But I still need to make tweaks. I still need to improve on things. That’s clear. I’m not completely satisfied with how I’ve done. I definitely know I need to make improvements.
“But for the first time, I’m confident to say that I have what I think I need to fight for a championship.
“Doesn’t mean I’m complete, doesn’t mean I’m perfect, that’s for sure. And when you’re competing against drivers who are close to that, like Max, you have to be close to perfect if you want to challenge him, you know, and challenge the teams we’re around.
“So I’m confident and I think the main thing I can take away is I have faith that I have got what it takes to fight for a championship.”
Norris admitted that while McLaren has a 36-point advantage in the constructors’ championship, it is still wide open.
“It’s close,” he said. “I mean, Ferrari have been strong for a long time. They have two very good drivers. They’re a very good team. They’ve clearly improved their car a good amount and found a better direction to head down.
“And they’ve become, probably with us, and some races a bit better, some races a little bit behind, some races the same, as a competitor.
“Red Bull are close at the same time. So it’s more who can just do a better performance on the weekend. But we do know that Vegas is probably a track that will suit the Ferraris a bit more. It suited them well last year. But Qatar we know maybe will be more favourable to us again.”
Adam Cooper F1 