Lando Norris’s hopes of clinching the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship took a significant hit at the United States Grand Prix, as his title rival Max Verstappen further extended his lead. Coming into the weekend trailing Verstappen by 52 points, Norris had momentum on his side, with McLaren emerging as the new benchmark after a string of strong performances. However, a challenging race in Austin saw Norris lose ground, leaving him 57 points adrift of the championship leader.
Norris’s frustration was evident after the race, where he described the weekend as a “momentum killer.” Despite overtaking Verstappen on track during the Grand Prix, Norris was handed a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits, which demoted him back behind the Red Bull driver and cost him valuable points. Verstappen, finishing third, secured an additional five points over Norris, a blow to the Briton’s already slim title chances.
When asked about the impact of the race on his championship aspirations, Norris didn’t hold back. “It’s a momentum killer,” he admitted. “But we came in here with our mind open, not expecting to dominate or just win or anything. Ferrari showed they’re just as competitive, and even if I came around Turn 1 in first, I would never have finished first or second, and could only have finished third.”
For Norris, the disappointment was compounded by the fact that Verstappen was the one driver he needed to beat to keep his title hopes alive. “The one guy I need to beat is Max, and that’s the guy I didn’t beat today,” Norris lamented. “It was an unsuccessful weekend all in all. But we gave it a good shot. I tried. It wasn’t good enough, and we have work to do, and I have work to do on myself.”
McLaren, which had looked dominant in recent races, particularly in Singapore where Norris claimed a stunning 21-second victory, struggled at the Circuit of the Americas. Team principal Andrea Stella acknowledged that the team had anticipated a more challenging race weekend in Austin, citing the track’s characteristics as a factor in their performance.
“Compared to Singapore, here there’s a lot more low-speed braking into low-speed corners, plus wind, and we know that in these conditions, our car doesn’t necessarily perform at its best,” Stella explained. “It is not as good as in some medium-speed corners and low-wind conditions, which we had in Singapore, Zandvoort, and Hungary. We knew this event would be one of the more difficult ones for us.”
With just five races remaining in the season, Norris now faces an uphill battle to keep his championship hopes alive. While McLaren remains competitive, the gap to Verstappen is growing, and the margin for error is shrinking. If Norris is to stage a late-season comeback, he will need to capitalize on every opportunity in the remaining rounds, but even that may not be enough to dethrone the reigning champion.
