Blunt ‘nobody will blame him’ verdict in Lando Norris title chances assessment

With his chances of overcoming Max Verstappen for the title this year dwindling, a former Red Bull driver has advice for Lando Norris.

Following the United States Grand Prix weekend, Lando Norris’ points deficit to Max Verstappen increased from 52 to 57 – making the mountain he has to climb ever steeper with just five race weekends to go.

Christian Klien: It’s very, very difficult for Lando Norris

During the Sprint running at COTA, Verstappen proved untouchable as he took pole position for the 19-lap race before leading it from start to finish to score the maximum points available.

Norris had looked on for second place after a great start but came under pressure from the two Ferraris near the end, and made an error at Turn 1 which allowed Carlos Sainz to demote him to third.

Having lost two points to his title rival on Saturday, Norris bounced back with pole position in qualifying but was beaten into Turn 1 by Verstappen as the Dutch driver got his elbows out to dive into a gap left open by the British driver.

Verstappen came under pressure from Norris late in the race but, as the McLaren driver attempted to overtake the Red Bull, took to the escape area as Verstappen ran wide through Turn 12. Norris overtook Verstappen while off the track and, as he and the team opted against returning the place and trying again, was given a five-second time penalty which dropped him to fourth.

This resulted in Verstappen’s points lead extending to 57 points – the Dutch driver could now theoretically retire from two races with Norris winning and still lead the championship, highlighting the scale of the challenge in front of Norris to close the gap.

Former Red Bull driver Christian Klien, now a pundit for ServusTV, says he doesn’t quite understand the approach Norris took to his race weekend in Texas as his opportunities slip away.

“After the US GP, it will be very, very difficult for Norris. So now he has to go full attack,” Klien said, as quoted by Speedweek.

Klien offered the McLaren driver some advice – to forget about potential consequences and be as attacking as he’s capable of.

“If I were in Lando Norris’ situation, I’d go in with everything I’ve got – either it works out or it doesn’t,” Klien said.

“I don’t quite understand Norris. He has nothing to lose.”

Norris has had trouble closing the gap to Verstappen through the middle section of the championship, despite the superiority of the McLaren over the Red Bull on most race weekends since Miami.

The gap after Miami was 53 points, as Norris claimed his maiden F1 Grand Prix win, and this gap has bounced around this area for the last few months – now up to 57 points after Austin.

Klien said that Norris is up against a challenge that may not be within reach as he dubbed Verstappen as the strongest driver on the grid.

“Of course, the points gap to Verstappen is big. If he still wins the title, he’ll be the big hero,” he said.

“But nobody will blame him if he doesn’t win the title against the best driver of the moment.”

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Lando Norris: I didn’t do a good enough job

A reflective Norris spoke after the United States Grand Prix, with the British driver not coming down hard on Verstappen for their two incidents during the race.

“I think it was respectful,” he said.

“Turn 1, I didn’t do the correct thing, but I feel like what happened at the end of the race was more on my side but, otherwise, it was a good battle, and I enjoyed it. We just didn’t come out on top because I didn’t do a good enough job.”

Typically self-effacing in his assessment, Norris said: “If I defended better in Turn 1 and wasn’t driving like a muppet. I should have led after Turn 1 and we shouldn’t have this conversation in the first place.”

Having seen Verstappen’s points lead grow for the first time since the Belgian Grand Prix, Norris admitted the weekend in Texas had taken some wind out of his sails.

“It is quite a bit of a momentum killer but we kind of came here with our minds open, not expecting to dominate or just win or anything,” he said.

“The fact that Ferrari was so quick today showed they’re just as competitive. Even if I came around Turn 1 in first, I would never have finished first or second, and only could have finished third.

“But the one guy I need to beat is Max and that’s the guy I didn’t beat today.

“It was a non-successful weekend all in all, but I 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.”

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