Lewis Hamilton in a press conference with the F1 logo behind him
Lewis Hamilton says it is “not impossible” for Lando Norris to end Max Verstappen’s reign as F1 World Champion, but his 70-point deficit means “some fortune” is required.
This year’s championship has been a huge momentum swing between Red Bull, who dominated the early races, and McLaren, who once again nailed their in-season upgrades.
Lewis Hamilton’s verdict on Lando Norris’ title chances
So much so the Woking team is breathing down Red Bull’s neck in the Constructors’ Championship where their deficit is a mere 30 points with nine races remaining.
Verstappen has more leeway in the Drivers’ standings as he and Norris trade blows, with the Dutchman outscoring the Briton in six of the last 10 races since Norris’ maiden F1 win in Miami.
Two of the last three, though, have gone the way of Norris.
Not only did he take eight points off Verstappen at the Hungarian Grand Prix, a race where Verstappen fumed at Red Bull for not doing “enough” with their upgrades, but he grabbed another eight points back in Zandvoort where he beat Verstappen by a whopping 23 seconds.
It has Hamilton declaring it is “not impossible” for Norris to end Verstappen’s reign, but he will need some luck.
“There’s a lot of points on the table, so I think it’s not impossible,” the Mercedes driver said in the build-up to the Italian Grand Prix.
“I think ultimately Max probably only needs to finish second every race to win at this point, and he [Norris] would have to win every single race and that still wouldn’t be enough. So there’ll need to be some fortune in it
Lewis Hamilton hopes title races ‘goes down to the wire’
But while the Drivers’ title may be a step too far for McLaren this season, they were firmly in the hunt for the Constructors’ where they are just 30 points down on Red Bull.
The Woking team hasn’t won the teams’ trophy since 1998, although they were P1 in 2007 before being stripped of that in the Spygate saga.
“I do think, and what’s really exciting, I think there’s a real chance that McLaren could win the Constructors’ title,” Hamilton continued.
“And I think that’s really, really exciting because obviously I was there when we did win the last Constructors’. Obviously it got taken away from us, but we won it in terms of performance that year.
“I don’t think they’ve won since, so I think that could be really exciting, I think, not only for them, but also for the sport.
“And, yeah, I hope that it goes down to the wire, because I think that would be great for the fans. But with the performance they showed last weekend, maybe they could.”
Lando Norris: I know I’m maybe not directly in the fight of a championship…
As for Norris, the Briton says McLaren are pushing hard to catch Red Bull in both standings but he accepts the Drivers’ is more difficult than the Constructors’ Championship.
He said: “They have been since the beginning. Like, I don’t know, it’s not something you can just question now. I think I answered it in every single interview I did last week so I’m not going answer in every single interview from now on, but we’re pushing hard every weekend.
“Of course our goal is to catch in both, and especially from a constructor side, it looks a lot more doable than the Drivers’ side. But I’m doing my best, the team’s doing their best, and that’s all we can hope for.”
Norris acknowledges that while there is more pressure on McLaren and even on his shoulders externally, he’s treating every Grand Prix as just “another weekend”.
“I know I’m maybe not directly in the fight of a championship where I’m neck and neck with Max, but just dealing with more questions and the pressure of everyone thinking that I have to deliver every single weekend, also knowing myself that I have to deliver every single weekend,” he explained.