Norris ‘ready to go’ for ‘tricky’ part of season

Grand Prix of the Netherlands

Dates: 29-31-Aug, 2018 Start time: 14:00 BST on Sunday

As Formula 1 resumes after its summer break, Lando Norris claims he is “ready to go” for what he anticipates will be “a long, tricky, challenging second part of the season.”

The Briton trails his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri by nine points heading into this weekend’s Grand Prix of the Netherlands with no other driver realistically in the fight.

Norris has won three of his previous four races, occasionally relying on his luck, but he refuted the notion that he had momentum in the championship.

He said, “The deeper meaning of momentum is that it gives you more knowledge, knowledge, and mental clarity.

“I don’t want to have a third good race just because I have two good ones,” the saying goes.

Briton Norris acknowledged that his championship chances had been impacted by his various errors throughout the season.

He ran into the backs of his team-mate in Canada after making an error while braking for the hairpin that caused him to take pole in the China sprint race, which Piastri won and Norris placed eighth.

Could I have made some of the wisest choices, Norris said? That’s what I believe.

“I wouldn’t say I regret it,” she said. But I’m glad I could do it again and make improvements, yes. But I don’t regret making those choices at the time. Life is like that.

You learn the most from situations where it sometimes goes your way and you get lucky, and other times when it turns out the other way and you make poor decisions.

Norris acknowledged that his deficit may not have been greater because of other factors.

This makes reference to Piastri’s defeats at Silverstone and Hungary. The Australian was criticized for braking behind the safety car in Silverstone, but Norris was able to recover from a bad start by switching to a one-stop approach in the middle of the race, which even he at the time didn’t believe would win.

I have certainly had some luck, said Norris. Additionally, I had bad luck. That’s life, though. Those things are impossible for me to change.

“I’ve had a car that I found much more challenging to drive this year, but I’ve made some good moves forward and improved,” said one participant. “I would not have won in Budapest if I hadn’t improved.”

If Piastri had won the championship in Silverstone and Budapest rather than Norris, he would have been 37 points ahead.

But he continued, “I don’t feel badly done.”

There will always be issues with racing that you may not agree with or that don’t go your way, which is just a part of it. You may be wondering where you can always just keep moving forward.

This year, we’ve done a lot of things well that we can control. Although there have been some difficult lessons and moments, I have a lot of confidence in my current situation.

This year, I think I’ve driven well. All that aside, there is an alternate universe where many things appear very differently.