21/07/2025 15:20
Lando Norris feels that if he is able to unlock the levels of
performance he showed during the Austrian GP, then "no one can beat
it". Norris put in arguably the strongest overall weekend of his F1
career during last month's round at the Red Bull Ring, topping
every session in which he took part, after missing FP1 for rookie
Alex Dunne. The McLaren driver secured pole with the widest margin
of the season at 0.521s from Charles Leclerc and dominated the
race, after fending off a strong challenge from team-mate Oscar
Piastri. The victory came after Norris had collided with Piastri
in Canada, eliminating himself. After triumphing in Austria, Norris
followed up a week later by scoring his first win on home soil at
Silverstone to reduce Piastri's lead in the drivers' standings to
eight points at the halfway stage of the season. Norris' ability to
cope under pressure has been questioned at times in 2025 as he
embarks on his first true title challenge, with the Briton sure
that his best performances cannot be replicated. "It is definitely
my goal to do something like [Austria] again," Norris told the
media, including RacingNews365. "From a qualifying point of view,
my lap in Q3 was probably one of the best laps I've ever done, so,
in some ways, I want to be confident that if I can replicate it,
then no one can beat it. "That's how good it felt, but I also know
how hard it is to achieve that every single weekend in the first
place, so it's a tricky one. "I don't expect that I'm going to do
it every weekend. I have the desire, but not the expectation, to
have a weekend like that every single weekend. "All I can do is
work on my job one step at a time. The team do their stuff, and
together, we try to achieve it more than once. "I certainly felt
back in the rhythm [in Austria], and I got the feeling of the old
me being back. "But I am not one to ever just say, 'I am back',
I've got to prove that with consistency and prove it to myself as
always."
