Norris again closest challenger Verstappen? "We keep surprising ourselves"

After another second-place finish in the Brazilian Grand Prix, Lando Norris is again seen as one of Max Verstappen's closest challengers for the Las Vegas GP. Whether he will be able to live up to that again at the Las Vegas Street Circuit, the McLaren driver dare not say yet.

Speaking after the Formula 1 race at Interlagos, Norris said he was surprised by the strong pace of his own McLaren, which, although finishing eight seconds behind Verstappen, was more than 25 seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin.

"I didn't think we were expecting to be as competitive here as we have been. So we're still surprising ourselves," said the 23-year-old Briton. Asked about his expectations for the F1 race in Las Vegas, he kept somewhat quiet. "I gave up on guessing where we're going to be nowadays," he said.

Thinking back to the opening race in Bahrain, where Norris finished last and teammate Oscar Piastri did not even cross the finish line, Norris points to the Woking-based team's shaky performance this year. "I didn't want to think of where we're going to be. It comes and goes," the McLaren driver continued.

He cited Lewis Hamilton and George Russell' 's dramatic weekend in Sao Paulo as an example. "I think everyone expected Mercedes to be extremely strong this weekend and they were nowhere. We expected Ferrari to be a bit more competitive and they weren’t. So I think no one really knows. Everyone just says guesses and presumes. But no one knows until we get on track," Norris said.