- Lando Norris achieved his first podium of the season at the Australian Grand Prix
- He is already 40 points behind world champion Max Verstappen
- Norris has admitted that he is very self-critical and that he sets lofty goals for himself
Lando Norris has admitted he is ‘annoyed and unhappy’ as he looks to push Max Verstappen for an unlikely world title challenge at McLaren.
Norris secured his first podium of the season at the Australian Grand Prix after taking the checkered flag in third place, but he has had a mixed season.
After finishing sixth and eighth respectively in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Norris also missed out on the top three in Japan after crossing the line in fifth.
He is therefore forty points behind runaway leader Max Verstappen, which deals an early blow to his ambitions to get the world champion at the front of the grid.
Norris, who has not been afraid to question his own form, cut a frustrated figure in interviews but admitted people can give the wrong impression.
Lando Norris has admitted he is very self-critical if he wants to challenge for the F1 title
Norris has fallen behind runaway leader Max Verstappen, but continues to harbor high ambitions
“I’m self-critical and I know it can look bad from the outside, absolutely,” he said The guard. ‘I look at my own interviews and I look so irritated and unhappy.
‘It’s because my mind is spinning and I’m thinking, “Why did I make a mistake? What would happen if I did this or that? What if I had tried something different?”
“But I set high goals for myself, I know what I’m capable of, I want to try to achieve great things and I’m not going to do that by being complacent.”
Now in his sixth season in Formula 1, Norris is determined to keep pushing himself and is confident he can challenge Verstappen for the title with McLaren.
However, he previously emphasized that he did not want to be teammates with the untouchable 26-year-old, prompting accusations that he was afraid of him.
Despite only finishing on the podium once this year, Norris says he can win a title with McLaren
Norris is struggling to keep up with the pace of both Red Bulls and is fifth in the drivers’ standings
“I believe I can win a championship with McLaren, that’s why I signed another contract,” Norris added. ‘I definitely think I can give him a good challenge.
‘But I also appreciate Max. It is extremely difficult for anyone to compete against Max on his team and challenge him for a world championship.
‘He could have moved to Mercedes at the time and competed against Lewis [Hamilton] but would it have been a smart idea to do so? Probably not and he probably wouldn’t be driving a Red Bull now and it would be a different story.
“I’m not scared of Max in any way, I’m excited to be against Max. People rate him as the best, so I would like to prove myself by going against that.
‘I’m looking forward to being able to compete with him, but really for position and not letting him go half a second per lap faster and just pass me.’