Lando Norris insists he won’t let the opportunity of a lifetime faze him as McClaren star resumes hunt to win first Formula One world championship and battle with Max Verstappen

Lando Norris was not always comfortable with the fact that he could win the Formula 1 world championship. It has gnawed at him, made him unusually irritable and made him reluctant to face his possible fate.

But here at the Circuit of the Americas, 15 miles southeast of downtown Austin, the 24-year-old Briton is facing the opportunity of a lifetime with relaxed contentment heading into the American Grand Prix, the first of six races that will determine whether he or Max Verstappen wins the most coveted prize in motorsport.

When the season resumes, after a break since he crushed everyone in Singapore with an excellent drive in a dominant McLaren on September 22, he is 52 points behind his best mate on the grid.

There are still 180 points to be achieved, and as one driver told me privately, he considers Norris the favorite for the title.

His car has been supreme lately, although Verstappen took pole for Saturday’s sprint. Norris only finished fourth.

He is chasing defending champion and best friend on the grid, Max Verstappen, who is only 52 points ahead

Norris dominated last time out in Singapore and racing is back this weekend after a break

Verstappen, the outstanding performer of his cohort, is almost bulletproof; his only weakness, if there is one, is a tendency to get into accidents, never failing to let his fists do the talking when he’s in a tight corner on the track.

As for Norris, he is a fine driver, but less combative and a little more vulnerable.

He keeps himself here in Texas. He loves Austin, the state capital, the location he rightly considers the best of the three in the United States – Austin, Miami and Las Vegas in that order, he says – but he stays there at night.

He watches Netflix – Gangs of London is a current favorite – and goes to bed early, rather than be tempted by one of the many haunts of a city that revels in its status as an outlier in this right-wing field.

“Keep Austin Weird,” is the advertising slogan.

Let’s get to the point: can he penetrate Max’s psyche? “I don’t think you can do that,” said Norris, whose only pre-race ritual is eating chicken wraps. ‘It’s difficult. It doesn’t work that way, and Max is one of the people you can least imagine.

‘He has weaknesses, as we saw in Budapest (where the Dutchman expressed his frustrations on the team radio), but he is also a complete driver and he has been in this position before.

‘He has had a tougher battle with Lewis (Hamilton) for a championship (in 2021) than he does now. You just have to beat him and beat him consistently. It feels like a long time since Singapore. We have been in a good rhythm since the summer holidays and I wanted to continue like this.

“But it’s been good for us to reevaluate and go again and try to come back even stronger.

Norris keeps himself in the United States, enjoys Netflix and goes to bed early

He has insisted he is ‘quite relaxed’ in his bid to win the final six races of the season

‘The championship will be very close. I don’t think we’ve had the best car.

‘Halfway through the year we didn’t maximize what we had, but in the last few races we have.

‘We are not just ahead of everyone. Red Bull is close, and so is Ferrari. Red Bull has brought upgrades here and they can be at the same level as us or before us again.’

He was asked if the need to win every race was a scary prospect.

“No,” he insisted. ‘If I don’t win, I don’t win. I’ll do everything I can. Maybe it doesn’t look like that and I’m quite relaxed.

“I feel the most comfortable I’ve ever been in, despite being in the most pressured environment I’ve ever faced.”