2024-09-01 18:49:07
Lando Norris said in his post-qualifying press conference that he has a “good opportunity” to make up the gap to Max Verstappen in Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix at 4 p.m. BST.
The McLaren driver took his third pole position in the last four races, while Red Bull and Verstappen will start from seventh and eighth, and the world champion described qualifying as “very strange”.
Norris is 70 points behind Verstappen in the drivers’ standings with just nine races remaining.
In an interview, Norris said that this is a perfect opportunity for him and McLaren, but he expects the Dutchman to close the gap very quickly during the race and be almost next to them.
The Brit pointed to Verstappen’s strong pace during race simulations in Friday practice and said the Dutchman’s car also looked good in terms of tire wear.
If Norris is to have any hope of beating Verstappen for the championship, he needs to average just over seven points per race — the difference between first and second place.
As he is unlikely to be able to win all the remaining races, this effectively means that Norris will need other teams and drivers to move Verstappen down in as many races as possible.
If Norris can win again today by a wide margin, as he did in the last race, over 20 seconds ahead of second, Red Bull will have to make major changes to ensure Verstappen’s title.