'Annoyed' Lando Norris has Max Verstappen to Mercedes theory
Lando Norris has opened up about frustrations in F1 and how he can model his career on Max Verstappen.
Lando Norris has been left ‘annoyed’ by his performances so far in his Formula One career. The British driver currently sits fifth in the Drivers' Championship, but Norris believes he has the quality to challenge Max Verstappen for the world title - and says the Dutchman would not be at the level he is now if he'd have gone to Mercedes earlier in his career.
It’s been a decent start to the 2024 campaign for Norris, who has finished inside the top 10 in all four races. The McLaren man even made it onto the podium in Australia, finishing third behind Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and eventual winner Carlos Sainz.
However, Norris isn’t content with his standing at the moment, with the 24-year-old insisting he wants to be a world champion. Speaking to The Guardian, Norris said: “I am self-critical and I know it can look bad from the outside, absolutely. I watch my own interviews and I look so annoyed and unhappy. It’s because my mind is whirling, I’m thinking: ‘Why did I make a mistake? What happened if I did this or that? What if I had tried something else?’"
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He continued: “I believe I can achieve a championship at McLaren, that’s why I signed another contract. I absolutely think I can go up against Max and give him a good challenge. But I also rate Max, so for anyone it’s extremely difficult to go up against Max in his team and challenge him for a world championship."
To achieve his goal of a world championship win, Norris will have to uproot the dominant Verstappen, who has won each of the last three F1 titles. But Norris insists his best chance of doing that is at McLaren, with the Bristol-born ace adamant he doesn’t need to switch teams to secure success.
Drawing parallels between Verstappen’s decision to continue his project at Red Bull, instead of moving to Mercedes, he said: “He [Verstappen] could have moved to Mercedes back in the day and gone up against Lewis [Hamilton] but would it have been a smart idea to have done that? Probably not and he probably wouldn’t be in a Red Bull now and it would be a different story.
“I am not afraid in any way of Max, I’m excited to be against Max. People rate him as up with the best, so I would like to prove myself by going up against that. I look forward to being able to battle him, but genuinely for position and not have him half a second a lap quicker and just drive past me.”