Lando Norris comments about Max Verstappen say it all amid F1 title race​

He dominated the Singapore Grand Prix and finished 21 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen, but still Lando Norris only gained seven points on his Formula 1 title rival

​He dominated the Singapore Grand Prix and finished 21 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen, but still Lando Norris only gained seven points on his Formula 1 title rival He dominated the Singapore Grand Prix and finished 21 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen, but still Lando Norris only gained seven points on his Formula 1 title rival   

Lando Norris insisted he won’t give up but admitted the Formula 1 title race is out of his hands.

That’s despite a dominant drive to victory at the Singapore Grand Prix. The Briton finished 21 seconds up the road from Max Verstappen and it would have been at least 30 had he not eased off in the final stages.

But only closed the gap by seven points – he remains 52 adrift of the Dutchman with six rounds to go and knows the gains must be bigger if he is to catch his title rival. Norris said: “If Max keeps finishing second and Red Bull keep doing like they did this weekend, then nothing more I can do. So, just focus on myself and focus on us as a team. That’s it.

“I still have a lot of points I’ve got to catch up and it’s not going to be easy to do it. It’s against Red Bull and it’s against Max, the most dominant pairing you’ve ever seen in Formula 1, from last year. And that’s not necessarily changed in terms of… It’s the same team and it’s the same driver. So, I have some of the toughest competition that Formula 1 has ever seen in the sport.

“We are doing a better job as a team right now because my car and our car is quicker than theirs. But that’s just credit to the team doing an amazing job and being smarter and doing cooler things and creating mini DRS flaps and stuff, you know?

“So, it’s just because that’s the game and that’s the people we’re up against, the people who also do it and people who create these things. So I’m working my heart out, I’m working my butt off, to try and make sure that happens. He’s trying to make sure it doesn’t happen. So we’ll have to wait and find out.”

Verstappen was again a man of few words as his press conference protest against the FIA continued. He wants Red Bull to “come out stronger” in Austin next time out when he should have fresh upgrades on his car.

AFP via Getty Images)

The Dutchman said he was “pretty pleased” with the progress his team has made in recent weeks, since a dire performance at Monza. But he added: “There is still a lot of work to do. We know that. Hopefully now, we can really kickstart things.”

Reflecting on how the Singapore weekend went, Verstappen continued: “Compared to the start of the weekend, we improved quite nicely. I think that’s been great for us as a team. On a track that we know we’re not performing normally the best. I’m happy with second today.

“I would say [the car was at its best] at the end, the last few laps. I think it was feeling a little bit better. But yeah, overall, quite a lonely race for me. We always want to do better and we’ll analyse a lot and hopefully we’ll come out stronger in Austin and from there onwards more.”

​Mirror – Sport