LAS VEGAS — Formula 1 point leader Lando Norris makes his 150th start in the series this weekend in Las Vegas, and it may be the most important race of his career.
The McLaren driver talked about the milestone and the pressure of chasing his first world driving championship.
“It’s crazy. It’s a big number, matching DC [David Coulthard] for amount of races with McLaren as well. So it’s not just races in Formula 1 – it’s 150 with McLaren. So Qatar will be 151. So the most,” Norris said on Wednesday. “I don’t know what the word would be…most ‘racing-est’ driver for McLaren – whatever it is. So that’s cool. That’s something I’m pretty proud of.
“It’s quite an achievement. But yeah, 150 in F-1 – like, this is my dream, you know? It’s been my dream since I was a kid, so to get that far, to get one is pretty incredible, but 150… Time certainly flies.”
Norris remembers his first Formula 1 race.
“But I still remember Australia 2019, I still remember being on the grid there and the lights coming on and everything. So it doesn’t feel that long ago,” he said. “Lowlight is tough to say. There are always tough moments in everyone’s career. Don’t know what that would be, but certainly the last couple years for us as a team.”
Norris leads the standings by 24 points with three races remaining.
“Everyone knows my approach is still just one race at a time, and I’ll treat it like that until the very end. I’m enjoying the places I’m going, I’m enjoying the people I’m doing it with,” Norris said. “I’m certainly enjoying every session, going out and obviously always trying to win. It’s always sweeter when you end up on the podium or you can win the race. It’s always a better feeling because that’s what we all want.”
While Norris has won two consecutive races heading to Las Vegas, he’s wary of what lies ahead. In 2023, he crashed in Sin City, and last year, he finished sixth.
“So, from the last two years, it’s certainly been the hardest race of the year that we’ve had. So my expectations are not to the same level as Mexico, Brazil, where we’ve been performing very well for a good amount of years,” Norris said. “But we’ve had an excellent year and we’ve improved in places that we’ve struggled in the past.
“So I’m certainly coming in with more confidence than in previous years, but not the same amount of confidence as going into the past few races that we’ve had,” he noted. “So you never know. Expectations are still high. I’m still coming here to win and to want to repeat the last few weekends that I’ve had. But I think it’s going to be trickier for sure than the last couple.”
