“It’s not easy,” Lando Norris admits McLaren facing ‘tough opposition’ in battle for 2024 title

Lando Norris has opined that winning the 2024 drivers' championship was still a difficult task despite rivals' struggles.

“It’s not easy,” Lando Norris admits McLaren facing ‘tough opposition’ in battle for 2024 title

Lando Norris (via imago)

McLaren has shown dominant performances since the beginning of the 2024 season. Red Bull’s ongoing struggles have enabled the Woking outfit to close in on the front-runners for the championship. That said, Lando Norris reckoned that winning the drivers’ championship would be a mountainous task despite the upturn in performance.

The MCL-38 challenger has risen to be the fastest chassis on the grid this season. Lando Norris has already scored two race wins and continues to close the gap to championship leader Max Verstappen. Norris noted that the challenger was performing well against the rival team’s slump in performance. Additionally, the Briton claimed that he was driving well over the season as well.

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The car is performing well, I feel I am driving well at the minute.
Lando Norris said during an Azerbaijan GP pre-race interview

Regardless, Norris believes that rival teams continue to work hard to put their fastest car on the grid. The Briton recalled the Italian GP qualifying and how the lap times were bunched up at the front. The 24-year-old highlighted that and stated that winning the championship wasn’t going to be easy.

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We are fighting against a lot of quick cars, we saw how close Monza qualifying was. It's not easy and we have tough opposition.
Lando Norris added
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Lando Norris claims he doesn’t want the 2024 championship to be ‘given’ to him

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have continued to put forth extremely impressive performances this year. Both drivers are scoring massive points and helping the team to close the gap at the top. However, the Italian GP saw some controversial team orders between the two McLaren drivers.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri (image via IMAGO)

Piastri would have to play the team game and enable Norris to score the championship. However, Norris has stated that he doesn’t want to be handed the championship by someone. The Briton believed that winning it in such a manner would be good in the short run.

I also don't want to be given a championship. Yes, it would be great to have a championship, and in the short term you feel amazing, but I don't think you'd be proud of that in the long run.
Lando Norris told crash.net
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Fred Vasseur and Adrian Newey (via IMAGO)

Red Bull has been working hard to revive themselves with McLaren breathing down their necks. The top two teams are separated by just eight points in the standings currently. The remainder of the 2024 season promises extreme excitement and competition between the two teams.