Las Vegas Grand Prix: Lando Norris eyes prize but weighs question of risk v reward
The conflict in Lando Norris’ mind as he approached his first world title was made clear after he took pole position at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Norris masterfully navigated a nearly gripless track in difficult wet conditions and took pole position by 0.323 seconds from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen; That gap could have been much bigger had the Briton not suffered a major wobble at the end chicane on his fastest lap.
Norris enters the race 24 points ahead of McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, who started fifth, and 49 points ahead of Verstappen. All year long he insisted that as the championship progressed he would complete the season one race at a time and not change his approach.
But at the post-qualifying press conference, he appeared to be already weighing the question of risk versus reward, with much less to lose alongside Verstappen, who is known for his aggressive approach at the start.
Norris said: “I’m here to win. I’m not here to not take risks. I still want to go out there and win. So I’ll make sure I can do everything I can.”
“But it still needs to be taken one step at a time; get off to a good start, have a good opening lap, that sort of thing and go from there.”
The reward presented to Norris at Saturday night’s Grand Prix in Sin City (Sunday 04:00 GMT) is obvious even to someone trying not to think about it.
When he wins the race, he can bring himself to the brink of the championship.
The Briton has already taken an almost clear lead over Piastri in the championship. If it becomes clearer, he can go to Qatar next weekend and clinch the title with one race left.
Verstappen is already almost out of the race given the size of his deficit. However, if Norris can take nine points from the Dutchman (which is not easy at all, there are seven points between victory and second place), then the Red Bull driver will no longer mathematically win the championship.
Norris is still just trying to think about the immediate task ahead of him and the threat Verstappen poses as he races for victory and, more urgently, into the first corner.
The four-time champion is on the inside line and, if he stays true to form, could attempt to take the lead by overtaking Norris on the entry, as he did with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the opening race of 2023.
“He acted quickly and if you expect anything less, you don’t know what he can do,” Norris said. he said. “So yeah, I’m expecting a battle. I’m expecting a battle the whole race.”
