OK, so I apologise for the clickbait headline. The headline isn’t as misleading as it first appears, though I must admit it does stretch the truth a little. Stretching the truth is something professional journalists do all the time. Anyway, let me first confirm that Lando Norris isn’t suffering from chronic memory loss—he is perfectly well, fine, and dandy. I am referring to a recent interview following the Zandvoort Grand Prix, where Norris, running second, was forced to retire after a rare mechanical failure.
Norris wants to forget Zandvoort and move on quickly. His retirement allowed his rival, Oscar Piastri, to win the race and open up a 34-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship. Most pundits believe that with nine races remaining, and with Piastri holding the edge over his teammate, the intra-team battle is all but over. Mathematically speaking, however, it isn’t.
Norris, for his part, has been uncharacteristically upbeat, saying he is going to “go for it.” You have to admire that fighting spirit. Anything can happen between now and the final race, and giving up is never an option. Still, Norris is fully aware that Piastri has things under control and shows very few weaknesses in his armour.
The Grand Prix circus now heads to Italy and Monza. McLaren is running away with both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships, but for Norris, the focus is solely on the Drivers’ title. He arrives in Italy under mounting pressure, knowing he desperately needs a win to cut the deficit to his teammate. In a pre-race media interview, Norris elaborated on his mindset.
“I’ve forgotten about it already. I couldn’t care less about last weekend now. It’s behind, and I have to try and make up for some points, but it doesn’t change.”
“Even if I was three points behind, 10 points, 100 points, my target is to win this weekend. That’s all I can do. I feel fine and ready to try again this weekend.”
“I can try and win the race and get some points. I can’t really turn it around; it’s not that simple.
“There’s still plenty more races to try to make up for the points I lost last weekend, and I’ve got to look at it that way rather than any other way, so that’s the way I’ll be doing it.”
“I don’t need to change anything,” the nine-time race winner said. “Every weekend I’m trying to win, and I don’t need to change that. I think if there are those situations where we have to race, of course, no one is going to want to make it easy for one another.
Pensive Lando Norris Arrive In Italy, Monza – 2025
