Formula 1 world champion Lando Norris says he still believes he can challenge for this year’s championship, despite a terrible start to the season.
The McLaren driver heads to Japan 36 points behind championship leader George Russell of Mercedes, and arrives at Suzuka following an embarrassing retirement before the race had even started in China.
Both Norris and his team-mate Oscar Piastri failed to make the grid in Shanghai due to separate technical problems, a double blow that Norris admitted “hurt us as a team.”
“What hurt most was the fact it was out of our control,” he said. “But we’ve worked hard to get to the bottom of it and we’ll do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Despite the setbacks, Norris is upbeat about McLaren’s chances going forward. He believes the car has plenty of potential and is targeting a strong result in Japan.
“We’re thinking about getting on the podium first, then getting back to winning races,” he said. “The points will take care of themselves and we’re confident we can claw things back.”
Norris had finished fifth in the opening race in Australia and fourth in the China sprint before the Shanghai grand prix disaster. He remains optimistic however, adding: “I believe in this team and I think we can have the best car this year.”
