What does Lando Norris need now to overhaul Max Verstappen?
The McLaren driver is hoping to deny his Red Bull rival a fourth straight world title
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Lando Norris faces an uphill battle as he seeks to deny Formula 1 title rival Max Verstappen a fourth consecutive world title.
Norris lost ground in the race for the Drivers’ Championship at the US Grand Prix in Austin as a penalty cost McLaren a podium.
The British driver was sanctioned by the race stewards after a late passing move on Verstappen, with a five-second penalty dropping him below the Dutchman and out of third place.
Norris had begun on pole but dropped down the field as Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz secured a Ferrari one-two, and admitted afterwards that finishing behind Verstappen was a blow to his world title hopes.
“It’s a momentum killer, but we came here with our mind open, not expecting to dominate or win or anything,” Norris said.
“The fact Ferrari were so quick showed they are just as competitive, I could only have finished third. But the one guy I had to beat is Max and I didn’t beat him. It was a non-successful weekend. But we gave it a good shot. I tried and we have work to do and I have work to do on myself.
“I respect the battle [Verstappen and I] had. Good one, enjoyable, respectful. Turn One, I didn’t do the correct thing but I feel like what happened at the end was more on my side, but otherwise it was a good battle.
“We didn’t come out on top because I didn’t do a good enough job. If I defended better in Turn One and wasn’t driving like a muppet, I should have led after Turn One and then we shouldn’t have this conversation in the first place.”
Had Norris finished ahead of Verstappen, he would have reduced his gap in the championship to 51 points, gaining back three points after losing two to his rival in the sprint event on Saturday.
But the late reversal leaves the Red Bull driver 57 points ahead at the top of the standings.
There are five races left in the campaign, with a maximum 146 points still available. Norris will have to make an average gain of more than 11 points per race to overhaul Verstappen.
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