Norris refers to crash with Verstappen in Austria: 'Not my fault'

Who would have thought it a few races ago: Red Bull has completely lost its form, while Mercedes and especially McLaren are starting to perform better. The championship difference between Verstappen and Norris is currently 76 points, but with 11 races to go, anything is still possible.

Norris ready for battle for world title

Norris is very happy with how things have been going recently: "I said at the end of last year that we are going to win races this year. I said at the beginning of the year that it would not be easy for Red Bull and that has all come true. We have done great as a team, so I think first of all we should thank the team for giving us a car to do that."

Yet Norris also continues to look at the facts: "We won today, but this is the second win of the year. Red Bull has recorded many more wins. Mercedes has recorded as many wins as us. So just because we won one race today and had a dominant weekend does not mean we are the fastest car. Maybe we have had the best car on the grid for two weekends this year. That's all."

Norris continued, "People can have their opinions and say what they want. Did we have chances to maybe win more? Yes. Did we necessarily have the fastest car on those days? I don't think so. When I think about that, when I think about what we are doing now, what we can do in the future, in the short and long term after the summer break... and we have more days like today, of course you are crazy if you say no [to the question of whether the championship is still possible]. I know we have about 70-80 points to make up. I know many people are saying we have no chance, but we want to keep fighting and I'm going to do everything I can to do that."

Norris refers back to crash with Verstappen in Austria

"Especially when you see Max and Red Bull not performing so well today, making mistakes and crashing. Then you want to make the most of those opportunities and then a lot more can happen in the future. It's still going on and I know it's a big challenge and it's optimistic, but I don't say no to a challenge and we as a team certainly don't. And psychologically, yes I am happy, I am ready. If you look back at the Red Bull Ring, I didn't do anything wrong in that case. It wasn't my fault, so I'm ready. I'm excited, ready for the battle. I'm looking forward to the battles we're going to have," Norris concluded.

This article was written in collaboration with Ben Stevens.