Safest route to title is to keep pushing for wins, says Norris

Lando Norris is guaranteed to win the world championship if he finishes all the remaining races in second place.

However the points leader says the best strategy to secure the title is to try to extend his run of grand prix victories.

“What’s done me so well the last few weekends is by going flat [out], staying out of trouble, staying out of the chaos behind,” said Norris. “It’s almost a safer bet in terms of pushing, so I think [aiming for second place] is not the right mindset to have.”

Norris has won the last three races from pole position (including the sprint race at Interlagos) and led 154 out of 166 laps.

“I come here this weekend to try and win,” he said. “I’ll go to Qatar to try and win. I still treat it as if I’m not in a championship – I’m just here to try and win this weekend, and that’s the mentality I’ll have.”

If Norris scores 60 points over the remaining races he is guaranteed to win the title regardless of where his rivals finish. He said that will factor into his decision-making only in racing situations on the track.

“Of course, when you’re on track, you make different decisions depending on risk levels and things like that,” he said. “But I feel like my judgement of that generally is pretty good and pretty accurate.

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“So I’m happy, for me it’s another race weekend. Nothing changes because of whatever points I’ve got.”

Having retaken the championship lead by claiming the maximum points haul over the last two rounds, Norris admitted his position feels more comfortable than it did earlier in the season.

“I don’t know what the points swing was prior to Mexico and then post-Brazil, it was a lot of points,” he said. “And I feel like I’ve very much been on top of a lot of things the last few weekends.

“But it’s a very difficult level to perform at all the time and I have incredible drivers that I’m up against. My expectation for myself is to try and perform at the same level, but that’s not always a guarantee.

“I know that it can also just change very quickly – whether it’s because you get unlucky or whether you’re not performing at the perfect level and the guys I’m up against can perform at that high level. Things can change very easily.

“So, of course, I feel maybe a little bit more in control, but at the same time, you’re not in control of any of these situations. And I’m not thinking of it apart from just going out and taking one session at a time, maximising FP1 and then FP2.

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“As long as I treat it like that, I don’t feel like I’m in a different position to what I was in Brazil. From the exterior, it’s clear that it looks that way. But inside, I think it’s treated as completely normal and just keep going as I am.”

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