Lando Norris throws in the towel on Formula 1: ‘Doors are almost closed’

Lando Norris imagined doing well in the São Paulo Formula 1 GP to “put pressure” on Max Verstappen in the last three races of the year. But the Red Bull driver won and gained 62 points after his sixth place. This Thursday (21), in Las Vegas, in the United States, the Englishman admitted that the season “is decided”, revealed that he had spent a week depressed, but guarantees that he will be strong with his eye on the title in 2025.

The McLaren driver wanted to reach Las Vegas with less than 45 points behind, but the poor result in Brazil took away all his hopes. “This was almost a decisive moment for the championship. It was a decisive moment for the championship. The doors are almost closed”, he admitted, with no hope of a comeback against the three-time champion.

“For a week I was very depressed, because I had this realization that things were practically out of my control now. They are no longer within my reach”, he lamented. “That’s a difficult realization when your hopes and beliefs are so high. To be knocked down all of a sudden was pretty demoralizing.”

In Norris’ view, the poor start to the season was fundamental to the loss of the title. “I definitely wasn’t at the level I needed to be at the beginning of the year, even (after the win) in Miami. Since the summer break, I feel like I’ve done a great job and performed very, very well by far. some of my best performances I’ve ever done.”

The growth after mid-season, however, already has him dreaming big for 2025. “I’m really happy with how the last few months have gone, honestly. I wouldn’t change a lot of things that happened. I still need to make adjustments and I still need to improve the things, that’s clear”, he highlighted.

He made reservations, however. “I’m not completely satisfied with what I’ve done and I definitely know I need to make improvements. But for the first time, I’m confident in saying that I have what I think I need to fight for a championship. That doesn’t mean I’m complete, it doesn’t mean that I’m perfect. 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.”