Norris: It will be harder to fight for victory in Las Vegas.

      The Las Vegas Grand Prix will be Lando Norris’s 150th start in Formula 1 — the 26-year-old Briton is finishing his seventh season with McLaren and is currently leading the championship. But he admits that ahead of this race his mindset is not as confident as it was at the two previous rounds.

      Lando Norris: “Reaching the milestone of 150 races is incredible! It’s a big number — by the way, I’ve equalled David Coulthard for the number of races for McLaren. Overall, it’s great, I’m proud of it, you know? Of course, time flies, but I still remember walking out onto the grid at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix, how the starting lights came on and all that. It doesn’t feel like that was long ago…

      If I had to pick one race in my career that I most wanted to win, it would be my home round at Silverstone. So I suppose I’m most proud of the victory at the British Grand Prix this year — my parents were there, my team was there, and my fans were in the grandstand with my name on it. It was a moment that really took me back to my childhood, because I’ve always dreamed of winning a race in my home country.

      Everyone knows that my approach remains the same: I take each race individually, and it will be that way until the end of the championship. I enjoy working with our team, I enjoy every session, and of course I’m always striving for wins. Recently I’ve managed to have several good races, although it can be difficult at times, because now I have to compete with Oscar, my teammate, so sometimes you have to try to step back and reflect on what you’re doing.

      Speaking about the upcoming race in Las Vegas, I’m confident that we can perform better on this track than in the previous two years, when it was the toughest race of the championship. At the same time, my expectations are not as high as they were in Mexico or Brazil, where we’ve performed very well over several seasons.

      But this year has been great for us; we’ve achieved improvements in the areas where we previously had difficulties. So, without a doubt, I have a more confident mindset, although I’m not as certain of success as I was at the previous rounds. Nevertheless, expectations are high and I intend to fight for victory. Although I think it will be tougher than at the two previous races.

      I feel that lately I’ve been doing everything really well, but it’s still very hard to perform at that level all the time. Besides, I have incredibly strong rivals. I expect a lot from myself and try to always perform at the highest level, but that’s not something you can guarantee. And I understand that the situation can change very quickly — you might be unlucky, or you might not be able to perform perfectly, while your rivals do. Not everything depends solely on me…”