Norris warns that McLaren “cannot afford” Verstappen’s escape

Lando Norris has acknowledged two small mistakes in the last few races that have allowed Max Verstappen to escape the championship, something that he has warned McLaren that “they cannot allow.”

The McLaren driver moved up to second in the drivers’ championship last weekend after finishing P2 at the Spanish Grand Prix, although he was quick to point out the negative of this.

While Norris is now second, he noted that his deficit to Verstappen has actually increased to 69 points, making toppling the reigning world champion that much more of a challenge.

Norris believes he is in contention for the championship this year, but knows he must finish ahead of the Red Bull driver to ensure he stays within striking distance.

“I think so, although I should have done better during the race,” Norris told select media, including RacingNews365.

“We should have taken some points from Max. In Canada there was a chance to beat him. There were two races where I finished second and he won. Max has to stop winning to achieve that.”

“Although I have now risen to second place in the championship, it doesn’t matter. I don’t care if I am second or tenth.

“It’s more about the gap with Max and he’s still increasing it at the moment. That’s something we can’t afford or let slip away a little bit at this point in the season.”

Small mistakes

If it had not been for two small errors in Canada and Spain, the classification would be very different.

Norris pitted too late at the Canadian Grand Prix and had a bad start last weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

If it hadn’t been for any of the mistakes, then there was a good chance he would have won both races.

While Norris accepts he cannot look back on mistakes and wonder what might have happened, the Briton feels he and McLaren can get the job done.

“If I had made a better decision in Canada and had a better start in Spain, we could have won two races,” admitted Norris.

“And I know there are a lot, and really always a lot of ‘what’s’ and ‘ifs’, but we have what it takes. It’s just about getting it all done.”