Lando Norris says his start at the Las Vegas Grand Prix was “pretty embarrassing” and vows to learn from his “punchy” move against Max Verstappen.
Pole sitter Norris actively tried to fend off Verstappen until the first corner, but outdid himself and lost to the Red Bull driver and George Russell at the next corner.
Norris recovered to second place, but like his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, he was disqualified four hours into the Las Vegas Grand Prix due to excessive wear on the skid blocks under his car.
This means that with two races remaining – Qatar this week and Abu Dhabi next week – Norris’ lead in the drivers’ championship is now 24 points clear of both Piastri and Verstappen.
“It’s quite embarrassing. We need to learn from Turn 1 and try to do a better job than we’ve done recently,” Norris told Sky Sports F1.
He added at the press conference: “You have to be punchy in Turn 1. I punched a little too hard and it took its toll. So sometimes that happens.”
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It was a dramatic start to the Las Vegas Grand Prix, but it was a bad start for McLaren. Lando Norris was overtaken by Max Verstappen and George Russell and dropped to third place, while Oscar Piastri fell from fifth to seventh, with an accident further back.
Prior to Las Vegas, Norris had outscored teammate Piastri in six consecutive races, including back-to-back races in Austin and Mexico City in October.
But at the same time, Verstappen has become an increasing threat in the championship, with Norris saying before McLaren was disqualified: “It’s a shame that we haven’t been able to do a better job as a team, myself included.”
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McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have been disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix after failing post-race inspection.
He added: “I know we won in Brazil, but we weren’t fast enough in Brazil compared to Max’s performance. They look very good. Max is doing a very good job and the Red Bull car looks very fast and they are beating us.”
“I hate losing. It’s simple, I hate how fast they are at the moment. We have to try to step it up a little bit.”
Verstappen is just thinking about “maximizing” his performance.
According to Form Guide, unless Piastri can quickly improve on his sub-optimal performance, Verstappen will be Norris’ biggest challenger for the championship.
The Red Bull driver, who is aiming to equal Michael Schumacher’s record of five consecutive titles, won last year’s Qatar Grand Prix and, before McLaren’s decision to exclude him, said his title chances depended on the car’s performance in the final two races.
“We always try to make the most of what we have. We did that in Las Vegas and next weekend we will try to win the race again. At the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up,” he said.
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Max Verstappen talks about title chances before McLaren exclusion
“But I’m so proud of everyone. We’ve had a really eventful season, we’ve had some tough times, but we’ve also had some really beautiful moments.
“And we learned a lot throughout the season, which will be very valuable for years to come.”
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Check out the best overtakes from Max Verstappen’s incredible performance from the pit lane to the podium at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Verstappen has scored eight consecutive podiums, including four wins, and Norris said he was “faster on average” since Red Bull introduced the floor upgrade at September’s Italian Grand Prix.
“If you look at their pace the last few weeks, they’ve been fast,” he said.
“If they don’t mess up in qualifying, they will win the race, like they did in Las Vegas, Monza and other races. It’s a tough situation. It’s easy to get there and back. We just have to do a better job.”
F1’s season-ending triple header continues with the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint weekend, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
