Lando Norris has explained that the biggest learning he took from his 2024 season was the knowledge that he has “what it takes” following his battle against Max Verstappen for the world championship, with the Briton admitting that he has gained confidence in himself after not always feeling this way in the past.
While Verstappen and Red Bull enjoyed a dominant start to the campaign, McLaren became increasingly competitive as the year progressed, resulting in Norris becoming Verstappen’s main title rival.
The Briton was ultimately unable to close the gap to the Dutchman – who sealed his fourth drivers’ championship in Las Vegas – but Norris admitted after taking victory at the season finale in Abu Dhabi that he has become more self-assured during 2024.
When asked if he fancies his chances from a championship perspective in 2025 given the confidence he has gained in the season gone by, Norris answered: “Of course. I fancied it already this year, but it was just a little too late.
“I definitely have had things to improve on and to look back on and try [to] correct and to improve. Nevertheless, I think the thing I’ve learned and I’ve gained the most this year is confidence in myself.
“Sounds very simple, [but] I’ve just always been quite the opposite kind of guy, and I always find [that] I need to go out to prove it to myself before I want to start believing anything. This year, yeah I made some mistakes and I didn’t give a good enough fight to Max, but it was a good effort, and the one thing I’ve learned from [it is that] I have what it takes.
Verstappen and Norris enjoyed numerous on-track battles during the 2024 season
“And that’s not an over-confident saying, that’s… I know I made my mistakes, I know what I’m capable of doing, and I know if I can improve on these things it’s definitely possible, so I’m excited. As much as I want this season now to end and I want to go have a holiday, I’m also really looking forward to next year.”
Norris later elaborated further on the performances that he had learned the most from in 2024, with the 25-year-old citing several of his on-track duels with Verstappen.
“Honestly, it’s probably the harder moments which are the ones you learn the most [from],” he explained. “So it’s kind of true what people say. But those harder times, my battles with Max, that kind of thing, certain other cases throughout the season…
“I’ve definitely stepped it up at a good level this season. I obviously lost out on a few things, and there were maybe three starts this year which lost me one or two positions at times. But they were positions quite often just to Max, or it was Budapest and one to Oscar [Piastri] and little things like that.
“But none of them, when I look back on them, made me feel like, ‘well, I’ve not got what it takes’. Those moments only came when it was directly against Max. And it’s Max – going up against Max in any state is always going to be tricky, and no one has a nice time racing Max.
“I think Mexico was a bit of a turning point when it was proved that not everything he does is perfect. I think if we all go back to Austin and go back to Turn 12, the majority of – [or] almost everyone on the grid – as drivers and also externally, disagreed with the fact I got the penalty. We either both should not have got one or we both should have got one.
2024 United States Grand Prix: Norris hit with penalty for passing Verstappen off track
“I think it’s little cases along the way, but I certainly, from a pace point of view, have not doubted myself this year. And I think I’ve definitely given myself more faith. When I look at qualifying, I remember 12 months ago here [in Abu Dhabi], I messed up my [Q3] lap, a lap that I should have done P2 when I had a big slide in [Turns] 12, 13.
“I was pretty annoyed with myself post quali, and that was what everyone spoke about then. But that’s not really happened this year. I’ve closed off my quali laps. I’ve improved in all those areas. And it was more just that toe-to-toe fight, with one of the best in the world.
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“The thing is, what you don’t see on the outside are some of those moments where if I did certain things, we would have crashed. People on the outside have no idea on what it takes and those moments where you accept losing a battle, and that is the case.
“And that was because of where we were in the first six, seven races of the year. We lost too many points, and I was just in that position where I couldn’t gain as much as what I needed to and wanted to.
“But I’m not using any of these as excuses. I’m saying I didn’t have what it took this season to fight against Max and deliver what I needed to deliver. But it certainly gave me the feeling of, ‘okay, if I improve this little bit here, this little bit here’, for the first time, I have confidence in saying I’ve definitely got what it takes.”
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