Lewis Hamilton believes Lando Norris can finish the season as Britain’s latest world champion, but only with a slice of luck.
Norris goes into Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix buoyed by an emphatic victory in Holland last weekend to move 70 points behind Max Verstappen. There are 258 points available across the nine grands prix and three sprint races that remain.
‘There are a lot of points on the table, so it is not impossible,’ said Hamilton, who won the first of his seven titles with McLaren in 2008 and last for Mercedes in 2020.
‘Max only needs to finish second at every race to win. Lando would have to win all those races and that would still not be enough. There will need to be some fortune in it.
‘I hope it goes down to the wire because that would be great for the fans. With the performance McLaren showed last weekend, maybe.’
Lewis Hamilton says Lando Norris (L) can finish the season as Britain’s latest world champion
Norris goes into the Italian Grand Prix buoyed by an emphatic victory in Holland last week
Norris is helped by driving the fastest car on the grid as McLaren’s development outstripped Red Bull’s. The 24-year-old, however, is keen not to be distracted or unnerved by talk of his championship potential.
However, he admitted he gets so nervous before races that he cannot eat or drink.
He said: ‘I don’t think of (heightened pressure) at all. There’s always pressure. I get so nervous for qualifying. For the races, I get just as excited and nervous. I don’t eat anything on Sundays.
‘I struggle to drink on Sundays, because I’m nervous.
‘It’s how you turn it into a positive thing. How do you not let it affect you in a bad way? I’m sure I focus on the correct things.’
Norris is helped by driving the fastest car as McLaren’s development outstripped Red Bull’s
Norris spent the night of his victory last Sunday in a far more sedate way than the partying celebration which marked his maiden win in Miami in May.
He went home to Monaco for a quiet dinner, the only hitch breaking down on the way back – a peril of owning a 50-year-old Lambourghni Miura. He and a mate pushed the car home before going to bed, aware there’s still work to be done.