Norris clear on Verstappen's charge in Melbourne: 'Lucky due to Safety Car'
Ahead of the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix, Lando Norris has effectively landed a tough blow to Red Bull Racing, Ferrari and Mercedes's hopes to challenge McLaren for the win at the Shanghai International Circuit, claiming he expects winning the race in China to be a bit easier than his at times dominant drive in Australia, whilst at the same time, refers to Verstappen's late charge in Melbourne, as a matter of sheer luck.
So, second round of the Formula One world championship, second win on the trot for the Brit? "I'm hoping we can do better and I'm hoping it can be a bit easier," said Norris in the FIA Drivers' press conference on Thursday, putting his competitors' hopes to challenge him on ice. "I think we had a great race. Our gap to our competitors [in the race was 15 seconds or something."
Verstappen's late charge, 'a matter of luck'
In the late instances of the race, a late safety car prompted Verstappen to get on the hunt of Norris for the win, something the McLaren driver attributed to a matter of luck. "[Verstappen was] more lucky that there was some safety cars, that kind of brought them back into the race. But we're hopeful. It's another race, it's a different weekend, so I wouldn't say we're confident that things are going to be exactly like they were," advised the McLaren driver ahead of the race weekend.
"I expect, again, a bit more competition from Ferrari this weekend. We saw how quick Red Bull have been. So clearly, they're not out of it. They're just as fast. I think when things are perfect, like they were in qualifying, we have an advantage. But they're certainly not far behind," concluded Norris.
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And here I was thinking that Lando learned a thing or two... I was wrong! ?
It's true the safety did bring Max back into contention during the race ?. Would it have been as close in normal race with no SC ...I doubt it .
Safety cars are a part of racing.
Max was lucky Oscar got to aggressive, nobody was going to challenge McLaren in Australia (not enough rain). The new FIA directives should slow them down but as they are not fully implemented I expect McLaren to be the fastest in China.
Still Lando should be less candid same for Marko , loose lips….
He was lucky to have come close McLaren has a rocket ship. Take away the safety car and Max is still P2. That's Max doing what Max does. Maximizing the result with what he has been given.
Like Max had in some years..But I forgot that Max has won only in slow cars:))
He won no championships in those years. no chance against the Merc. But Lewis did say on the podium, standing next to Max in those years that this guy is always right on our tails.
Well according to some on here it's only Lando that got lucky, and according to that same some it's only Max's incredible talent that got him second place by driving the wheels off the car, I mean look how Lawson done and that is where the cars speed actually is.
Duh duh duh duh Max Verstappen.
I'm liking this new2025 version of Lando but time will tell if he can keep it going for the season.
Verstappen was lucky. Safety cars and Piastri going off helped him immensely.
But 2024 Maimi win was pure talent. He is already getting cocky.
Right, cos it's only pure talent when it's Max and none of the other 19 drivers, right?
I used to be a Lando fan, but with every step up he takes he gets more cocky and irritating. Imagine how bad he will get when he becomes WDC?
He will never be cocky and irritating like Verstappen...Your favorite driver will always will be in front of Norris at this chapter...
True, he will never be at the level of Max's cockiness. Max has always been like this. Norris hasn't, he is changing hence people that used to like him are changing too
Why is he cocky? Within no time he was 16 seconds up the road to Verstappen and half a minute to Russel. He was faster in the rain as well. Safety cars compacted the field. He factually tells exactly what happened. I see no reason to drag other races into the discussion either as he only commented on this one. And he was 100% right too..
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