Norris: I'm expecting to win and if I don’t it hasn’t been a good day
F1 NewsSunday, 21 July 2024 at 07:52
McLaren driver Lando Norris insisted he does not need to prove a point by converting pole position - which he claimed in Qualifying on Saturday - into victory over his nemesis Max Verstappen at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Norris will enjoy the best seat in the house when the five red lights go out for Sunday’s 70-lap race following the British driver’s third pole of his F1 career with McLaren.
Red Bull ace Verstappen will be third on the grid at the Hungaroring after Norris’ team-mate Oscar Piastri finished second to secure McLaren’s first front-row lockout since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton took pole that day in Interlagos – his last dance for McLaren before he joined Mercedes the following season – with Jenson Button alongside him.
Button, who went on to win, is long gone and Hamilton – despite ending his two-and-a-half-year F1 winless streak at Silverstone a fortnight ago – is no longer the dominant force he once was. In contrast, Norris has emerged as his heir to Britain's star F1 driver.
Lando: We are always trying to maximise every race
Norris heads into Sunday’s 13th round of 24 second in the 2024 F1 world championship and with an outside chance, albeit the slimmest of ones, of beating Verstappen to the title. The deficit stands at 84 points.
However Norris could, and possibly should, have won the last four races but for errors by driver and team. And with McLaren holding a clear advantage over their rivals at this low-speed venue on the outskirts of Budapest, the expectation weighs on Norris to ensure his unwanted streak does not extend to five.
But when Norris was asked if it is vital he secures just his second career win – and thus laying down a championship marker to Verstappen – the Bristolian replied: “I don’t think it is important.
“Every single qualifying and every single race is important so it is not like all of a sudden I need to do it and I need to prove a point, I don’t. We have done the best we could in every race and we have missed out on some opportunities. I don’t need to go back into all of that stuff.
“We are always trying to maximise every race and every point and the more we can get back on Max and the more, as a team, we can get back on Red Bull in the constructors’ championship, the better. But there is no point or emphasis on trying to beat a particular someone or something.
"I am expecting to win and if I don’t, it hasn’t been a good day. The car is going well and I am driving well, so it is obvious what the aim is for Sunday," declared the Englishman.
A victory for Norris would ignite hope that Verstappen’s pursuit of a fourth straight title is not the forgone conclusion it once appeared after he won five of the opening seven rounds.
Big Question: Will Lando Norris win the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix?
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