Lando Norris brushed off the suggestion that momentum is on his side as he prepares to resume his intense title tussle with team-mate Oscar Piastri.
Norris trails McLaren team-mate Piastri by nine points with 10 races remaining as Formula 1 kicks back into action following its summer shutdown at this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.
The British driver won last time out in Hungary, coming out on top in the strategy battle before fending off Piastri’s late lunge to take his fifth win of the season – and his third in the last four races.
But the 25-year-old is not a big believer in momentum and is instead intent on focusing on each race as he bids to land a first world title.
“I would tend to say I don’t go with it and I don’t really say I have it,” Norris said in Zandvoort. “I find it quite easy to set back races one at a time.
“A good race can give you more confidence and knowledge, the momentum side maybe has a deeper meaning.
“Does it give you more confidence, knowledge, put you in a better mindset? If all of that comes under that word ‘momentum’ then maybe I might agree with it.
“Just because you’ve had two good races doesn’t mean you are going to have a third one.
“I feel good, I feel ready for what will be a long, tricky, challenging second half of the season but all for good reasons.
“Of course it’s about the championship but we all do it race by race.”
Norris was publicly critical of himself on a number of occasions earlier in the season as Piastri built up a title lead by winning four of the first six races.
The Bristolian branded himself a “f****** idiot” after crashing out of qualifying in Saudi Arabia and also crashed into Piastri in Canada, eliminating himself from the race.
But, while Norris admits he would love to change certain moments during the season, he insists he prefers to have no regrets.
“Could I have at times made better decisions? I think so,” Norris added.
“Probably the main one was China sprint qualifying, my lap was good enough for pole and I locked up.
“If I had that thought just before braking, ‘it’s a long season, don’t try and be a hero’. I lost eight points there.
“If I could go back to Canada and re-run that, be a bit smarter and not take as much risk.
“But I am also the guy that, I wouldn’t say I regret those moments. Do I wish it changed and was better and could do it again? Yeah.
“I don’t regret making those decisions at the time. That’s me. That’s life and that’s the way it goes. These are also times when you learn the most and help yourself most for the future.”
PA
