Lando Norris declared he is doing a better job than every other driver after a superb win at the Dutch Grand Prix -- where Max Verstappen walked away from a huge crash at his final home race.
The 26-year-old Norris reeled in championship leader Kimi Antonelli at Zandvoort to clinch back-to-back wins and further raise hopes that he could yet defend his title.
Norris leaves the Dutch seaside having moved to fourth in the standings but still 83 points behind the Italian, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton 59 points back from the leader.
Mercedes is wary of the looming threat of Norris and McLaren, with Antonelli branding it the new fastest team on the grid and Russell declaring that the papaya outfit is the one to beat.
“They are not going to say themselves, are they? I don’t think it’s true,” Norris retorted.
“Mercedes have a better all-round performing car. I also know how good of a job I’m doing behind the wheel.
“For once I will give myself a little bit of credit that I feel I am doing a better job than everyone,” he said.
“I think that can make a difference. We have a car now capable of beating them. We didn’t win yesterday [sprint race] and we didn’t change much, but I worked a lot on my driving. I want to believe more than everyone else.
“I make one mistake we are P4, P5,” he added. “So the fact that I am doing a good job is the reason why people are saying it.”
Norris banished negativity after the sprint race to deliver a commanding drive in Sunday’s main event.
He was jumped off the line by Antonelli following a red flag for Verstappen’s crash after the race had begun in damp conditions, but McLaren made the key move by pitting him later than the Italian.
That enabled Norris to attack on fresher rubber, and he got the job done, blasting past Antonelli round the outside of Turn 1 on Lap 54.
- Lando Norris wins thrilling Dutch Grand Prix to take back-to-back victories- George Russell defends Mercedes’ team orders: Title rival Kimi Antonelli ‘deserved to finish ahead’- Lewis Hamilton ‘proud’ of Ferrari despite dicey radio messages during Dutch GP
“When the car gives me what I want and I am driving at the level I am now, I can win races,” Norris said.
“I was able to force him to make mistakes, force them to do something with strategy.”
Norris refused to declare himself back in the title hunt but would accept that Sunday’s win was among his best.
“I made it tough for myself, but a good race. Probably one of my better wins. We had to fight for it,” he added.
Mercedes executed team orders, asking Russell to allow Antonelli through on fresher tires as he came home second. Russell then held off Hamilton over the closing laps to retain third, with Charles Leclerc fourth ahead of Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri.
The final Dutch Grand Prix before it drops off the calendar began in crushing fashion for the packed grandstands, with their hero, Verstappen, suffering a crunching high-speed crash at the end of lap one.
The four-time world champion, revered in these parts, appeared to dip a wheel onto the curb on the inside of the 18-degrees-Celsius banked final bend before sliding across the track and thundering into the barriers.
He swiftly confirmed he was OK, before saying postrace: “It was a decent hit, but I’ve had worse.”
He told Sky Sports: “I could see a bit of a dry line coming and I thought I could accelerate up, but it accelerated a lot and it caught me out.
“I hit the wall. It could have been a lot worse because there were a lot of cars behind me, but luckily that all went well.”
Ferrari became engaged in a radio battle with its drivers as Hamilton asked to be let through by Leclerc. The Monégasque was asked to pit but resisted for a lap.
Hamilton said on the radio: “Great way of wasting time guys, good job.”
He later told Sky: “We couldn’t win this race, but to win championships you have to pick up every point, and the last few races have been difficult with penalties and stuff, and then today I lost several seconds behind Charles, which I think ultimately would have made the difference at the end.”
