NEW DELHI: The Formula 1 paddock has been witness to a very sombre version of Lando Norris in the past couple of months. Jovial and often seen having a laugh with fellow drivers and teammates, the 25-year-old has been more reserved, politically correct and not displaying too much emotion since the mechanical failure of his McLaren at the Dutch Grand Prix on August 31.
That DNF (did not finish) was a crucial moment in the F1 title race with the Briton falling 34 points behind teammate and championship leader Oscar Piastri. Since then, Norris has been quieter, more composed and calm even when he’s done well, achieved a podium or earned more points than his primary title rival in the last few races.
Even when he took pole with a stonking lap on Saturday — almost six-tenths faster than Piastri — he barely let out his typical ‘Come on!’ on his cool down lap.
The resolve helped the Bristol-born driver to slowly eat into the massive points cushion Piastri had in the last four races before delivering a statement win in Mexico City on Sunday to overturn the deficit and retake the lead of the championship for the first time in six months.
It was all but a Grand Chelem (pole, fastest lap, led every lap, win) barring the fastest lap as Norris won by a commanding margin of over 30 seconds from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen with his teammate ending fifth.
What looked like almost an impossible target to achieve two months back, given Piastri’s run of form in the middle of the year, has turned into reality as Norris (357 points) leads the Australian (356) by one point going into the last four races of the year that also includes two sprints.
“It’s one weekend at a time. I’m happy and focussed on myself. I’m just keeping my head down and I keep to myself. It’s working for me at the minute so I’m happy. But, what a race. I could just keep my eyes forward and focus on what I was doing,” said Norris following his 10th win of his career, sixth of the season and first in Mexico.
Many times over the season, especially when the 24-year-old Piastri was outperforming Norris, the Briton’s competitive mentality and composure was questioned by experts. Errors also crept in regularly with one proving disastrous when Norris DNFed after crashing into Piastri at the Canadian Grand Prix in June.
In addition, Norris had also struggled in qualifying too in comparison to his teammate, not able to get the perfect grip in most Q3s leading to Piastri outqualifying him, meaning that the Aussie had a better chance of scoring points in the races.
But Norris has been more resolute than ever before in his career, saying he plans to continue his policy of being focussed on just himself that helped him win his first Grand Prix since August 3 when he took the top spot of the podium in Budapest.
“It was pretty straight-forward, which is just what I wanted. A good start, a good launch and a good first lap and then, I could go from there. I just stay relaxed and it helps. It helped me get a good start and it’s the best thing,” said Norris, who is looking to become McLaren’s first drivers’ world champion since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.
“Certainly, when the car was winning and Oscar was winning, the last thing I could do is use the excuse that my car is not good enough. I wasn’t getting to grips and wasn’t finding a way to make it work, and I’m finding a better way to make it work now. It’s as simple as that. Of course, it gives you good confidence.”
Much to the delight of the fans, the Formula 1 title fight has become enticing with only one point separating the two McLaren drivers. If that wasn’t spicy enough, Verstappen has reeled off six consecutive podium finishes to reduce Piastri’s 104-point lead at the end of August to just 36 points from Norris.
But the momentum is definitely with Norris right now with the fastest car, three successive podiums and a win where he was unquestionably the fastest driver on the 4.3km Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
