Lando Norris said he wants the British Grand Prix to come now after reigniting his world championship charge with a brilliant win over rival Oscar Piastri in Austria.
Norris will head to his home race at Silverstone in a week’s time a driver reborn after he came out on top of his thrilling wheel-to-wheel duel with McLaren team-mate Piastri in the Styrian mountains.
After claiming the third win of his stop-start campaign, the Englishman has reduced the title deficit to Piastri to 15 points from 22.
Max Verstappen is now 61 points off the title pace after he was taken out on the opening lap by Mercedes’ teenager Kimi Antonelli. A crowd touching 150,000 is expected at Silverstone next weekend, while Norris will also have a dedicated area for his fans, the Landostand, at Stowe corner.
But Norris said: “For me, it is not more pressure. Of course, it is the place I want to win more than anywhere else. It puts a smile on my face when I wake up there every day, and it distracts me in a good way.
“There is pressure in every race and I cannot put myself under any more pressure than I do. So, it is something to look forward to, to enjoy every lap, enjoy the experience, and to have so many of my fans in my own grandstand cheering me on.
“I am very excited. I would want it to come now. But I need a good sleep first.”
Norris’ championship hopes were in tatters after the Canadian Grand Prix a fortnight ago following a collision with Piastri which the British driver said made him look like a fool.
But Norris put his McLaren on pole by more than half-a-second here, and did not crumble under the pressure from Piastri amid their breathless ding-dong battle.
“It is certainly fulfilling for me and it gives me good confidence,” continued Norris, 25.
“I don’t need to prove anything to anyone, only to me. It has been a good clean weekend. I have performed exactly as I wanted to do and needed to.
“But it doesn’t come easily. I have not just turned up and things are better. I am working and doing a lot more away from the track than I used to with the team, on the simulator, and my own team in trying to improve everything I can. It is positive to see that paying off immediately. And it is a good step in the right direction. But I still want more and still need more so we will keep working.”
Norris and Piastri traded places on lap 11 as they fought for the lead before the latter came within centimetres of crashing into his team-mate nine laps later when his lunge at turn four almost backfired.
A warning to the Australian arrived from the McLaren pit-wall. Piastri subsequently apologised over the radio for the close shave.
“It was stressful for sure, and not the most comfortable position to be in,” admitted Norris.
“There were a lot of laps where I was looking in my mirrors. We both want to race hard and fair and it goes both ways. We have to put Montreal behind us and behind me for sure. It is something I wish didn’t happen but it was nice we could push to the limit here. There were some close moments but nothing that would make (team principal) Andrea (Stella) or the pit wall sweat too much.”
