Although Lando Norris lost the personal battle, his performance in the final round earned McLaren the Constructors' World Championship. That is already in the bag, but he could also win the Drivers' Championship in 2025…
Norris acknowledges defeat and that Max Verstappen was better than him in 2024, but he also sees a lesson behind the missed opportunity:
"Being second, missing out on a win is always a painful thing, but - it may sound strange - I'm looking forward to entering 2025 knowing that I'm capable of fighting. I know myself, my strengths, my limits, no one knows better than me what I need to improve on. There are areas where I'm strong and there are areas where I'm not so strong, I'm open to criticism and open to improving where necessary.
Last year my qualifying performance wasn't the best, but this year I was almost twice as good and I gained a lot of pole positions. This year I didn't have the plus in me to beat Max Verstappen, to fight him. However, I definitely felt that he is also human, and if I improve my technique here and there, then I can definitely say that I have the strength in me to beat him.
"We feel like I've come close to that this year, with some strong results in recent races. Hopefully 2025 will be the year where I'm competing for the world title from the very first race!" Norris said firmly.
