Norris admits he could have won the 2024 drivers’ championship · RaceFans

Lando Norris has conceded he could have won the world championship last year, after losing the title to Max Verstappen by 73 points.

The McLaren driver previously claimed he would not have won the title last season even if he had driven perfectly. However he has now conceded he had a realistic chance of beating Verstappen.

“It was within reach,” said Norris in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “This year I need to fix a few things, work on some things and come back stronger and that’s what I’m ready to do.”

Norris won more races than any driver besides Verstappen last year. His victory in the season finale at Yas Marina last month secured the constructors’ championship for McLaren. He said he’s keen to repeat the feat this year but also wants the “selfish” triumph of winning the drivers’ title.

“I think one thing we’ve realised as a team is now we’re there we want to make it easy for ourselves,” said Norris “We want to keep going so that we can win easily these races and not have them as difficult as they were last year.

“So the team have remained very focussed. It was easy for all of them to get back and just go ‘we’re good, we’ve done it now, let’s just relax’. They’ve done the opposite. They’ve gone ‘we want even more’ and they’ve worked even harder to try and find new things for this year. So I think they’ve turned these expectations into positive things, into more motivation and more drive to want it again.

“For myself, as much as I want to win the constructors every single year, I also want that selfish one, to win the drivers’ championship. You need a good team behind you and I think that’s exactly what I’ve got.

“I came close-ish last year. I was still always a bit far behind, but I could smell it. I had that feeling of like, okay, this is kind of what it’s like.”

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