Lando Norris still believes he can take title fight to Max Verstappen

Lando Norris is refusing to give up hope of challenging Max Verstappen for the world championship.

The 24-year-old has emerged as Verstappen’s closest rival but the Dutchman’s victory at the Spanish Grand Prix extended his title lead to 69 points.

Norris has taken one win and four second places in his last six appearances. But there is a feeling the McLaren driver could have been heading to this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix with two consecutive victories under his belt.

A poor strategy call scuppered Norris’ hopes of winning in Canada earlier this month before the Briton said his start in Sunday’s race in Spain – where he dropped from first to third – denied him another triumph. Verstappen won both races.

However, with 14 races remaining, Norris says he has the machinery underneath him to provide Verstappen with a real fight.

“I need to tidy up a few bits and we will be on top,” said Norris. “I should have done better today and there was a chance to beat Max in Canada. So that’s two races that I have finished second and he has won.

“We should have got points back on Max. He is still extending his lead and that is not something we can afford to let him do, to run away with at this point in the season.

“But if I just made some better decisions in Canada and if I had a better start here, we could have won two races. I know there’s a lot of, ‘shoulda, woulda, couldas’, but we have what it takes. It’s just about putting it all together.”

Three British drivers occupied the top four places at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya with Lewis Hamilton claiming his first podium of the season, one place ahead of George Russell in the other Mercedes.

Following a desperate start to the season, the Silver Arrows have shown signs of a resurgence in the last two races with Russell on pole in Montreal.

Hamilton, who is heading to Ferrari next season, still believes his team are behind Red Bull and McLaren in the pecking order.

But the seven-time world champion is optimistic he could soon be in a position to fight for his first victory since the penultimate round of the 2021 season in Saudi Arabia.

“I’m hoping that we are able to eke a little bit closer to them (Red Bull and McLaren) and give them a bit more trouble in the next four or five races,” said Hamilton, 39.

“We’ve then just got to keep bringing upgrades. We’ve got to keep improving the car. There’s a clear improvement and there’s clear areas where we need to bolt on performance so that we can be in the fight with them. But winning has to be the target.”