Norris confident of fighting for F1 championship in 2025

Norris is confident in his ability to challenge for the 2025 F1 championshipMcLaren’s Lando Norris is confident he can challenge new champion Max Verstappen for the title next season in 2024.

Verstappen’s fifth place finish in Sunday’s Las Vegas Grand Prix means he now sits just behind nearest rival Norris in points total with two races remaining. Norris is 63 points behind Verstappen, but the Briton said he starts next season believing he and the team can win the drivers’ championship.”I’m really looking forward to next season because we’ll be starting with a car that we think can win the championship at the first race,” he said. Norris added: “I feel like I can fight for the championship.

I’m confident that I have everything I need. I’ve got to work hard for it and I can fight with Max.”Verstappen’s victory cemented his dominance in F1, securing his fourth consecutive championship.The Dutch driver started the year in typical fashion, winning four of the first five races, but the season gradually became more competitive, with six other drivers also winning races. Norris added further wins in the Netherlands and Singapore, but needed to beat Verstappen by at least three points in Las Vegas to stay in the title fight.Instead he finished sixth, one place behind Verstappen, and the race was won by Mercedes’ George Russell.

Norris said ahead of this weekend’s race that he “wasn’t ready” to challenge for the title this season, but he is confident things will be different next year.He added: “Max is the best driver in the world and one of the best drivers to ever compete in Formula 1, so I love to fight with him and go head-to-head with him.” “He deserves the championship, but hopefully next year he can make more of an upset.”Image caption: Lando Norris beat Max Verstappen to win the Dutch Grand Prix in AugustNorris had to wait five years to win his first race, having only made his F1 debut in 2019.

He had finished second eight times before this year, regularly proving he had the ability as a driver to challenge the leaders. Before this season, McLaren had won just one race since 2012 – when Daniel Ricciardo won at Monza in 2021 – but they have won five grands prix this year, with Oscar Piastri also winning twice.