Lando Norris needs strong Las Vegas finish to catch Max Verstappen

Lando Norris achieved a major milestone in his Formula One career when he won his first race in May at the Miami Grand Prix.

Now, Norris is experiencing another first — his first championship battle.

It will take a near-perfect effort from Norris — and a little help — but the 24-year-old is still in contention for the F1 world title entering the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The race is scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. Saturday. Practices will take place Thursday and Friday, with qualifying later Friday.

Norris is 62 points behind three-time reigning champion Max Verstappen with three races left. For him to stay in contention, he must finish ahead of Verstappen in Las Vegas and leave the race with less than a 60-point deficit to first place.

“It’s a compliment, that’s for sure,” Norris told F1 TV in a prerace interview before the Brazilian Grand Prix about being in a title fight with Verstappen, whom he considers a friend.

Norris is having a breakout year in his sixth F1 season. He’s won three races, seven poles and finished on the podium 12 times.

It took Norris, a highly touted prospect when he joined McLaren’s F1 team in 2019, 110 starts and 15 finishes on the podium — which includes six second-place finishes in 2023 — before he claimed his first checkered flag.

At Miami, a midrace safety car helped Norris jump ahead of Verstappen. The British driver held off Verstappen and pulled away for the win.

“A lot of people doubted me along the way,” Norris told reporters after the win. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes over my last five years in my short career, but today we put it all together, so this is all for the team. I stuck with McLaren because I believed in them.”

‘I’m split’

As Verstappen went 10 straight races without a win during the summer, Norris won two more times to stay in contention for the championship.

Norris was denied a potential win at the Austrian Grand Prix in June when he and Verstappen made contact late in the race, which caused Norris to finish last.

When asked by F1 TV if Norris could separate the way Verstappen races and their friendship away from the track as the two battle for the title, Norris was undecided.

“I don’t know; I’m split,” Norris said. “In some ways, you kind of think how someone can be personally and how you can get along with people can be so different to how you are on track.”

The two were racing wheel to wheel again in last month’s Mexico City Grand Prix when Verstappen was given two 10-second time penalties for two separate incidents for forcing Norris off track.

“He’s doing what he has to try and keep me behind him in the championship because he’s under pressure, Red Bull’s under pressure, they’re not delivering,” Norris told F1 TV.

“We as a team have overtaken (Red Bull); Ferrari has overtaken them. They’re doing their best, we’re doing our best, and the more pressure we can put them under the more of these kinds of mistakes they’ll probably do.”

‘My first time’

Norris has helped put McLaren, the team he has driven for in all six of his F1 seasons, in position to win its first constructors championship since 1998.

McLaren (593 points) leads the points standings by 36 over Ferrari and 49 over Red Bull, which has won the past two constructors titles. A maximum of 86 points are available for the final three races.

Norris will need to have a better result this weekend than he did in last year’s Las Vegas Grand Prix to keep the pressure on Verstappen. Norris crashed on the third lap of the race and finished last.

If this season is any indication, Norris and Verstappen should be battling at the front again in Las Vegas in what could be the first of many title fights between the two friends.

“It’s my first time being in this situation, and time will tell how that changes,” Norris told F1 TV. “But for now, I still respect Max, I think he respects me, but maybe ask me again at the end of the year.”

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What: Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix

When: 10 p.m. Saturday

Where: The Strip

TV: ESPN

Favorite: Lando Norris and Max Verstappen (+190, Station Sports)