Norris knows he has ‘most to lose’ in Abu Dhabi

Lando Norris has insisted that his approach will be “the same as every weekend” at the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, despite acknowledging he has “more to lose” than championship rivals Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri.

After a tricky Sprint event in Qatar last time out, Norris leads Red Bull rival Verstappen by a reduced margin of 12 points, while McLaren teammate Piastri is 16 points back – meaning any one of them could walk away from the Yas Marina Circuit with the 2025 title.

As the F1 paddock reconvened on Thursday, all three contenders were grouped in the same press conference to discuss their mindsets, hopes and expectations, with Norris kicking things off as the man at the top of the Drivers’ Championship.

“It’s the same as every weekend – nothing changes,” said Norris, in terms of how he and McLaren are treating the decisive days ahead.

“Of course, some reviews of last weekend, like the same after every weekend, really, just reviewing what went on, what was clearly and obviously not good for us, some of the mistakes you’ve made. Also the less obvious things that we could improve on. That’s normal post-race understandings and therefore preparations for the next race.

“Otherwise, nothing does change, it gets treated the same from everyone inside the team. It’s more excitement, I guess, for everyone at the same time. Apart from that, the work and how you approach it all remains the same.”

While Verstappen declared that “everything is a bonus” on his side after a remarkable post-summer recovery and Piastri played into his own outsider status, Norris was later asked if he feels there is more to lose as the championship leader.

“I guess in terms of position of course I have the most to lose, because I’m the one at the top,” he commented. “I’ll do my best to stay there until the end of the year – a few more days!

“At the same time, if it doesn’t go my way, I’ll try again next year. It’ll hurt probably for a little while, then that’s life, we’ll crack on and try and do better next season.

“I also feel the mentality of having nothing to lose, because it’s just a race, for a championship, but in 30 years’ time I probably won’t think of it that much either way.”

That said, Norris’ answer to a follow-up question highlighted just what it would mean to the 26-year-old Briton to put his hands on the sport’s ultimate prize.

“Ask me hopefully in a few days, or a few weeks,” Norris smiled.

“This has been my whole life, it’s everything I’ve worked towards my whole life, so it would mean the world to me and it would mean the world to everyone that’s supported me and pushed me for the last 16 years of my life, in terms of trying to get to this point.

“It would mean everything. It would mean my life until now has been a success and I’ve accomplished that dream I had when I was a kid. Other than that, I don’t know what else to probably say.

“It’s a reward for a lot of hard work that goes into things, and I think it goes to whoever deserves it most.”

Meanwhile, Verstappen has insisted that he is feeling “very relaxed”, with the Dutchman admitting that he is content with how he and Red Bull have been “turning things around from difficult times” during the second half of the season.

Verstappen enters the weekend having dramatically closed the points gap following a strong run of form across the last eight rounds which has seen him take five victories.

Prior to the decisive event at the Yas Marina Circuit, Verstappen explained during Thursday’s media day that he was focused on other things in his life before arriving at the venue.

“I spent some time with my daughter,” the Red Bull driver said. “I figured some stuff out for GT3 for next year, figured out some stuff for my sim racing team as well, planning for next year. Pretty straightforward stuff before arriving here.”

Verstappen went on to detail how he is seemingly not feeling the pressure entering into the weekend, having not anticipated that he would still be in the championship fight given that he was 104 points adrift of former leader Piastri just a few months ago in August.

“I’m very relaxed, nothing to lose,” the 28-year-old reflected. “I’m just enjoying being here, but for me it’s not even about being here – I’ve been enjoying the second half of the season, working with the team and how we’ve been able to turn things around from difficult times.

“(We’ve gone from) having a debrief after the race, feeling very disappointed and frustrated with the performances, to just enjoying, smiling, having these wins again. It’s fantastic, so I’ll just take it.

“To me everything here is just a bonus and sitting here fighting for the title. That’s also what makes it really straightforward for me. We will just try to have a good weekend but even then it’s not really in my control, so I guess I’ll just try to enjoy it.”

Looking back on the campaign, Verstappen struggled to pick out any particular incident that he would deem as one where the title might have gotten away from him.

“At the end of the day, it’s won over 24 races – some races go a bit better than others,” the four-time World Champion conceded. “A lot of the races we didn’t have a lot of pace, or enough pace to challenge for a win but here we are.

“In general I’m just very proud of the season we’ve done, how we’ve come back as well in the second half. We’ll just try and keep it fun now until the end but to always pick one particular moment or whatever, that’s always a hard one.”