1 week Ago By Harry Smith
Lando Norris heads into the Las Vegas Grand Prix next weekend knowing that his championship hopes are hanging by a thread, with Max Verstappen - currently 62 points clear - only needing a 60-point advantage at the chequered flag to claim his fourth World Championship. In many regards, 2024 has been a breakout year for Norris with three wins and seven pole positions, but it will be hard for the 25-year-old to leave Abu Dhabi in December knowing that he had a chance to win a maiden World Championship crown. The Brazilian Grand Prix will rightly be viewed in retrospect as the race that swung the title race with Verstappen taking full points and Norris finishing down in P6, but there were a number of missed opportunities for the Brit throughout the campaign.
“Lando is unbelievably fast,” Chandhok told Express Sport , in association with Betway . “He's so, so fast. We could see by the number of pole positions and stuff.
But you'd have to say there've been a number of races where in terms of wheel-to-wheel racing, I'd say specifically Austria and Austin, Texas where he lost out to Max. “I'm not saying Max was in the right in Austria, but I think Lando could have still done things differently himself and come out in front and won that race. It's about knowing your opposition.
“It's about knowing how hard perhaps Max races and how hard therefore you have to race to take him on. I think that's one of the lessons. The other thing is just how important the opening lap is.
If he had led the opening lap in Spain, he would have won that. If he hadn't driven off the track in Spa at the first corner, he would have had a better result. “If he had beaten Oscar into the first corner Budapest, Lando would have won that.
In Brazil, if he didn't lose out to George at the start, again I think he would have had a better result there because he had more pace than George, but he was just stuck behind him, couldn't get past and I think he would have pulled away. “There are four races there. In Canada, I think the team and Lando could have done a better job in communication, and he was leading that by some margin.
[At] Silverstone, they chose the wrong tyres, and again, I put that on the team. “So, I think as a collective, they left a lot of points on the table. But ultimately, I've highlighted all of these things because you've asked a question on what Lando could have done better.
“Lando didn't lose the championship through these things, Lando lost the championship because...
If you look at the first five weekends up to China, Lando was 52 points behind and he's now 62 behind. The championship wasn't lost in Brazil like many people think. The championship was lost in the first five weekends.
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