Lando goes into this weekend's race 62 points adrift of Dutch driver Max Verstappen.
Lando goes into this weekend's race 62 points adrift of Dutch driver Max Verstappen.

McLaren’s Lando Norris claimed on Wednesday that he now has the experience to compete in a Formula One world championship, but it is “probably too late” to prevent Max Verstappen from winning his fourth title in a row this weekend. The British driver needs at least three more points than Red Bull’s three-time champion at this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix to keep his title ambitions alive. The season concludes with a triple-header in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, beginning in Las Vegas.

“It’s been the first time that we’ve had a chance to fight at the front,” says Norris. “We haven’t been able to do that in six years, and this is our first opportunity. “I’m not satisfied with what I’ve accomplished, but for the first time, I believe I have what it takes. I wasn’t fully prepared to face Red Bull and Max. “I believe I am now, but it is certainly too late,” the 25-year-old said.

After a positive experience in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, where Verstappen halted a 10-race winless streak, Norris admitted the “door is almost shut” on his title campaign. He starts this weekend’s race 62 points behind Dutch driver Max Verstappen.

Maximum is one of the finest drivers ever in F1 & to go up against that person who is so good demands a bit more than I have accomplished this season,” he claimed. “I’m not totally satisfied with what I’ve accomplished, but for the first time, I believe I have what it takes to compete for the championship.

“It doesn’t mean I’m finished, because when fighting against drivers like Max, you need to be near to faultless. The important thing I can take away is that I believe I have what it takes to compete for a title. Norris confessed that he had a “tough time” after finishing sixth in Brazil in early November. “It was a defining moment in the tournament. “The doors are almost shut,” he explained.