Lando Norris no great believer in momentum, ready for tricky finale

ZANDVOORT – Lando Norris has won three of the last four races, but the McLaren driver said ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix that he was no great believer in momentum and expected the second half of the Formula One season to be “tricky” and challenging.

The Briton won at Zandvoort last year and returns nine points behind Australian teammate Oscar Piastri with runaway leaders McLaren chasing a record-equalling fifth successive one-two victory.

“I never say I have good momentum or believe in that kind of thing,” Norris told reporters when asked on Aug 28 whether momentum was really a thing.

“But does it give you more confidence and set you up for the next weekend in a better mindset? Then yes, under that bracket, I would say yes.”

He also said that having two good races did not mean the next one would also be good in a sport where there were so many variables.

“When there’s so much variability, it’s hard to just classify things as momentum,” Norris added, accepting that he had also been lucky at times.

Piastri, meanwhile, could consider himself unfortunate to lose out in Britain and Hungary, penalised in the first and missing out on strategy in the second.

Had he won, he would be 37 points clear but he insisted that he did not feel “hard done by”.

“I feel like I’ve driven well this year... there is an alternate universe where a lot of things look very different, but none of that matters,” he said.

Regardless of individual ups and downs, McLaren are enjoying a rare streak of success and operating largely in a league of their own.

They have won 11 of 14 races and are within sight of retaining the constructors’ championship, possibly as early as Azerbaijan in September.

If they did seal a 10th constructors’ crown in Baku, it would be with a record seven race weekends remaining, one better than Red Bull managed in 2023.

The drivers’ title is more likely to go down to the wire in Abu Dhabi, and Norris said both McLaren drivers were already factoring that into the way they went racing.

“You’ve got to understand who you can take risks with, who you can’t, and when to take those risks,” he said.

“I think that’s a general thing, but it’s also something I think you have to understand a little bit more when you are fighting for a championship.”

In other news, George Russell said Lewis Hamilton was talking nonsense about being “absolutely useless” and expected his former Mercedes teammate to bounce back from a tough start to his time at Ferrari.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton, winner of a record 105 races, was hard on himself after qualifying 12th at the last race in Hungary before the August break while teammate Charles Leclerc secured pole.

The 40-year-old has yet to stand on the podium for the Italian team.

“Of course he’s talking nonsense when he says something like that because he’s the greatest driver of all time,” Russell said.

“He’s still an exceptional driver, we saw it – he obviously won the sprint straight away at the start of the year in China. He’s still clearly got it but Formula One is not an easy sport especially if the team is not performing at the highest level that compounds the issue. Of course, Charles is an amazing driver too.

“I think right now, 14 races down, probably every driver bar two are looking forward to 2026 and for a fresh opportunity to fight for a championship. For someone like Lewis, that’s what he lives for, not just getting in the points.” REUTERS