As Lady Luck threw the dice in Brazil, Lando Norris admits that was a “tough” result to swallow as it meant the World title was “not within reach” for him this season.

Closing the gap on Max Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship in five of the previous six races leading up to Interlagos, Norris made further inroads into the Red Bull driver’s lead in the Sprint in Brazil.

Lando Norris: For a week I was pretty down after Brazil

Winning that while his title rival was P4 having been hit by a post-race penalty for a VSC infringement, Norris lined up on the grid for the Grand Prix just 44 points behind Verstappen. 71 laps later, he was 62 points down and his title hopes were over bar the shouting.

Verstappen benefitted from the timing of a red flag for Franco Colapinto’s crash to bolt new intermediate tyres onto his RB20 whereas Norris, who had been leading the race, had pitted four laps before.

Lining up second for the restart with Norris P4, Verstappen shot into the lead and stormed to the victory. In sharp contrast, two mistakes cost Norris vital positions.

It was a “tough” result to swallow and one that took a few days for the McLaren driver to accept.

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“You have to learn to accept it,” he told the media including PlanetF1.com during the FIA’s driver press conference in Las Vegas.

“I think what made it, Brazil, tough was two things. One was for something like this to happen so late in the season. I think, you know, when it’s earlier in the season it’s like it’s more so be it and you just see what happens later on.

“But this was almost a defining moment for the championship. It was a defining moment for the championship. The doors are almost shut.

“For a week I was pretty down after Brazil because I had that realisation that things are pretty much out of my control now, not within reach necessarily.

“That’s a tough realisation when your hopes and your belief is so high for it to get knocked down so much all of a sudden was pretty demoralising and not the best of feelings.

“You learn to accept that. That’s life. I admitted, and I admitted even in Miami, that I was lucky in Miami to get the win with the Safety Car, and that’s the strategy you play.

“I think Brazil was still a bit more luck of the trade, but that is Formula 1. That’s racing. I’ve not complained about it.

“Luck can be on your side. It can be on other people’s side. That’s life. So I don’t mind. One day it will go your way. The next it won’t.”

Lando Norris: It’s check in the F1 2024 chess match

Verstappen can be crowned a four-time World Champion this Saturday in Nevada if he finishes ahead of Norris or the McLaren driver fails to score – or neither driver scores. After this race, only 60 points are still up for grabs and the current gap between the two drivers is 62 points

For Norris, it’s a chess match and he’s in check.

“Yeah, it’s a tough one. I don’t know chess that well, honestly, but it’s probably check,”he said. “I can survive. I can put up a fight. That’s what I do, but at some point you kind of know it’s not going to be your way and it’s not going to go your way.

“But you never know, so I’m not saying it is over and I won’t say it’s over until it is, but you know it’s very far out of reach at the minute and we’ve been performing well, but I need a lot of luck if anything, if I can and i’s pretty much like I’ve got to win three races and Max has to not finish three races in a way.

“So, yeah, it’s check. And I’m all alone. And Max has all his pawns ready to attack me. But that’s probably all I know.”

Verstappen’s “pawns” including drivers not even racing for Red Bull with Ferrari tipped to shine in Las Vegas.

But while the 2024 championship may be game over bar the last throw of the dice, for Norris and McLaren the Constructors’ Championship is still on the line with valuable lessons learned towards next year’s attack.

“I have what it takes,” declared Norris. “I think it’s the first time in the last six years of Formula 1 when we’ve had a chance to fight at the front, we’ve not been able to do that for the last six years. So this is our and my first opportunity to do so, and my first opportunity to see where I stand.

“And I definitely was not at the level I needed to be at the beginning of the year, and even Miami point of the season. Since the summer break, I feel like I’ve done a very good job and performed very, very well, by far some of my best performances that I’ve done.

“So I’ve been very happy, actually, with how the last few months have gone, honestly. I wouldn’t change many things that have happened. But I still need to make tweaks. I still need to improve on things. That’s clear.

“I’m not completely satisfied with how I’ve done. I definitely know I need to make improvements. But for the first time, I’m confident to say that I have what I think I need to fight for a championship. Doesn’t mean I’m complete, doesn’t mean I’m perfect, that’s for sure.

“And when you’re competing against drivers who are close to that, like Max, you have to be close to perfect if you want to challenge him, you know, and challenge the teams we’re around.

“So I’m confident and I think the main thing I can take away is I have faith that I have got what it takes to fight for a championship.”

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