Norris Vows to Fight for F1 Title in Las Vegas Grand Prix

Lando Norris, who secured his inaugural F1 Grand Prix victory in Miami earlier this season, has stated his commitment to “do everything” within his power to maintain his challenge for the Formula 1 drivers’ championship during the upcoming Las Vegas Grand Prix. The McLaren driver is set to start from sixth position, directly behind championship frontrunner Max Verstappen. George Russell of Mercedes secured pole position, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz qualifying second. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly’s strong performance placed him third, ahead of Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, who starts fourth. Verstappen enters the race with a 62-point advantage over Norris. He will secure his fourth consecutive title if he finishes ahead of the British driver on Saturday night in Las Vegas (06:00 GMT on Sunday). To prolong the championship contest to the subsequent event in Qatar, scheduled for one week later, Norris must outscore Verstappen by a minimum of three points. The Briton commented, stating: “I will do everything I can. That’s what I’m here to do. I’m not going to give up ’til the end even if chances are extremely thin.” He added, “I’m here to do the best in every race I can whether I’m fighting for a championship or not.” Regarding Verstappen, Norris remarked, “We have him just ahead of us today. We have a chance to beat him tomorrow.” Norris acknowledged that Verstappen’s championship victory was, realistically, imminent. “Whether he wins or not tomorrow, for me it is not going to change anything, he is pretty likely to win the championship,” Norris stated. He further reflected, “Do I wish it could have gone a bit further? Sure. But the race was lost in the first races of the year, when Max got too far ahead. I am proud and happy with what we’ve done.” The 24-year-old driver indicated that he encountered difficulties during qualifying, attributing them to his car’s unsuitability for the prevailing conditions or the specific circuit layout. He commented, “Be optimistic and look ahead to what we can achieve,” adding, “I don’t expect anything much, for sure.” Max Verstappen extended congratulations to George Russell for securing pole position. Verstappen and his Red Bull team also faced challenges in Las Vegas, with the Dutchman finishing 0.485 seconds off pole. He expressed that it was “a bit of a surprise” to qualify ahead of the McLarens of Norris and Oscar Piastri, the latter of whom will start eighth. “I don’t think we can fight with Ferrari or Mercedes,” Verstappen stated, adding, “They have been too quick and Lewis is starting P10, so he will move forward.” Lewis Hamilton had demonstrated strong pace throughout the weekend, topping the second qualifying session and placing second to Russell in the first. However, errors on his two final laps resulted in him starting 10th on the grid. “It didn’t work when it mattered,” Hamilton commented. He continued, “I tried, it didn’t come off. I should have been on pole, I have pace, which is the positive to come from it.” The race win is anticipated to be a contest primarily between Russell and the two Ferrari drivers, Sainz and Leclerc, with Leclerc starting fourth but having displayed the most competitive pace during race simulations this weekend. Russell indicated that Mercedes had not foreseen their strong performance this weekend, especially following a series of challenging races. “It’s been a real surprise for all of us,” Russell stated. He elaborated, “And it’s something we need to really review because this is an outlier circuit.” He further noted, “We haven’t done anything out of the ordinary specifically for Vegas, but for whatever reason, the conditions, the layout, is playing in our favour. And I’m kind of scratching my head as to why.” Russell mentioned that predicting the race outcome was challenging due to the limited mileage accumulated by most teams on the medium and hard tyres, which are designated for the race, in contrast to the soft compounds used in qualifying. He explained, “You’re going to be learning on the fly,” and predicted, “It’s going to be probably surviving that first stint and going from there.” He also cautioned, “But, you know, here in Vegas, anything can happen. It’s a long race. There was a timely safety car for a number of people last year, and we also saw that last race in Brazil.” Concluding, he stated, “So, you know, right now I’m very happy, very satisfied, but I’m not taking anything for granted going into the race.” Sainz declared, “We are genuinely fighting for the win with Mercedes tomorrow. Whenever they get it together, they are very, very fast and the fastest, like they’ve shown today. So I think we’re definitely going to fight George.” Leclerc also expressed confidence, stating, “The pace is there.” He elaborated on his qualifying challenge: “I am very fast after three laps but in qualifying you cannot afford to do that.” Leclerc acknowledged, “Carlos has been much better than me in putting the tyres in the window for the first lap. I tried my best to improve but my last run was a nightmare, my fronts were ice cold and I had crazy understeer all round the lap.” He concluded with optimism for the race: “We are strong in race pace and we will do our best to come back. I am not only targeting the podium. I would like a win and if we do everything perfect the pace is there.”