“Going flat out”: Lando Norris doubles down ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix

Written by Kavi Khandelwal

Going into the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Championship leader, Lando Norris, offered a frank and revealing insight into the improvements in his performance this season. He credited a mix of subtle technical tweaks and a significant personal step-up.

The McLaren driver spoke honestly about his early struggles and his aggressive, focused mindset for the remaining races.

Credit: Formula One

Overcoming the early season hurdles

Norris was quick to admit that his current form is a sharp contrast to the beginning of the year, acknowledging that the only way was up.

"It's hard not to do a better job than what I was doing at the beginning of the season. I certainly struggled at the beginning of the year," he stated.

He detailed the minor but impactful technical changes made to the car. "We've changed some little things on the car... the things with the front suspension and steering – some of it, we think it's better, we think it's going to help us and help me, but it's not a guarantee. So that's helped at times."

He noted the adjustments were often subtle, not providing an immediate feel of transformation: "Even when we put it on, it wasn't like, 'Oh, this feels way better.' It was more like, we think it's better. If you don’t feel anything, we'll just leave it on because we think it’s better."

The responsibility and the work behind the success

While the team provided the foundation, Norris firmly believes the crucial difference has come from within and from his close working relationships.

"But the rest of it is more up to me and just trying to figure it out myself and with the group of people that I have around me – my engineers, my full team."

He is confident he is extracting more from the package now. "I certainly feel like I'm doing a much better job. I certainly feel like I'm executing laps better in qualifying and performing very well in the races – good starts, good restarts, all of that, the smaller things, let's say. So I’m definitely doing a better job, but it's not come without the work behind it all."

He attributes his recent success to a simple, aggressive strategy: "What has done me so well the last few weekends is going flat [out], staying out front, staying out of trouble. It is just a constant amount of work I do with my team to keep finding little things."

Credit: Formula One

Championship mindset: Taking control where possible

Despite holding a significant points lead, Norris maintains a pragmatic, race-by-race philosophy, refusing to get drawn into title calculations.

When asked if the title is in his control, he responded, "I don't know what the points swing was, but it was a lot of points. I have incredible drivers I am up against, so I am just trying to perform at the same level. And it can change quickly, because you get unlucky... You are not in control in these situations."

His mantra remains clear: "I am taking it one session at a time... My approach is one race at a time, and I'll treat it like that until the very end."

The challenge of cold and the Piastri dynamic

Looking ahead to the challenges of cold-weather racing, Norris humorously acknowledged the typical driver's complaint: "It is a challenge for everyone, everyone complains whether you are first or last. We do that very well as drivers, that is our speciality!"

He pinpointed a specific weakness when facing cold, low-grip tracks like Vegas: "I think I struggle with front graining, I think I'm the worst on the grid. I hate understeer and that happens here a lot. If I go out tomorrow and grain the fronts, I am not going to be very happy."

Finally, he spoke highly of his teammate, Oscar Piastri, highlighting their contrasting personalities but strong working relationship: "We are very different people, he is very calm, relaxed, always seems quite cool - which I admire, he is very plain sailing, you can't tell what mood he is in! We are still different people but in terms of relationship, we still get along well."

He concluded by expressing gratitude for his current position: "It is hard sometimes to step back and realise what you are doing, you don't often step back and go 'oh I'm in Formula 1, fighting for the Championship, traveling the world.' When you do step back, it is pretty insane..."