Lando Norris says he and McLaren will be able to call 2024 a success even if they do not succeed in beating Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to the title.
Norris heads into this weekend’s United States Grand Prix, the first of the final six races of the season, 52 points adrift of Verstappen.
Briton Norris won the previous race in Singapore four weeks ago with Verstappen second.
Norris said: “We’re fighting against the best of the best but no matter what it has still been a successful season.”
The gap between Verstappen and Norris equates to an average of nearly nine points a race – more than the gap between first and second places.
It has narrowed from 78 points following the Belgian Grand Prix, four races ago.
Norris said: “If I finish second it’s because Red Bull and Max have done a better job.
“We started (the season) a long way behind. Everyone thought Max was going to have an easy win.
“For that not to be the case after the gap they had after race one, it’s still a year to be proud of.
“But as the season goes on, you always reevaluate what are our expectations and now we are a top team and fighting for drivers’ and constructors’ championships.
“I’ve been doing a good job. I have been happy with the job I have been doing and what we are doing as a team and confident if we keep our heads down and keep pushing, we can close the gap.
“It’s not easy, we need more than me first and Max second but I can’t change that, just keep my head down and focus on myself.”
Norris said McLaren’s belief changed after he took his maiden F1 victory in Miami in early May, but he acknowledged that he and the team had made some mistakes that had stopped them narrowing the gap quicker.
“(There are) races we kind of regret not winning, probably Silverstone being the main one that didn’t go our way when it should have done,” he said. “And we look back on that with a bit of regret that we didn’t end up in better positions than we did.
“From Silverstone there was more focus from everyone, including the mechanics and engineers, because it became more and more real that we were in a position we had worked very hard to be in.
“I’m loving it… there is more pressure and a few more nerves but I am still very relaxed and chilled about it.”
