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Lando Norris is currently second place in the drivers' standings - Photo: Race Pictures

Norris targets consistency to chip away at Piastri’s lead

20:21, 19 Oct

Updated: 20:59, 19 Oct

bySamson Ero

Lando Norris has revealed what he believes is crucial to cutting the championship gap to Oscar Piastri ahead of the United States Grand Prix.

“At the minute, it's just consistency.”

- Lando Norris

The British driver, who spoke to GPblog after outqualifying Piastri for the Circuit of the Americas race, stressed the need to maximise results, particularly on race weekends where the McLaren team are not the quickest.

“Before the weekend, I was asked what's going to help me get further up. At the minute, it's just consistency,” he said.

“On a day like today, it's clear we're not as quick as Red Bull, and therefore we have to be happy with P2 because that's the best we could have done today.”

Lando Norris qualified in P2 and starts the United States GP alongside Max Verstappen - Photo: RacePictures

Norris further stressed the importance of maintaining focus and blocking out the noise that continues to emerge as the title race heats up.

“Similar to the questions, it's just about not getting distracted by the mess and nonsense that everyone creates and just focusing on doing my laps, doing my own job, and trying to get good results and a strong performance,” he explained.

The 25-year-old concluded by detailing his optimism about being quicker on race Sunday.

“Certainly, with my position tomorrow and knowing our form in race pace compared to qualifying, we know Saturdays haven’t been as strong this year. So I’m hoping we can turn it up a little bit tomorrow and be a bit quicker.”

The Grand Prix in Austin saw Norris outqualify teammate Piastri for the race. While he recorded the second-fastest time to start from P2, his teammate could only manage a sixth-place start.

Piastri’s concerns after qualifying

Piastri highlighted a few issues with the McLaren car following qualifying. The Australian stressed how uncomfortable he felt in the car during the session.

The championship leader further explained that he struggled to find his rhythm with the car, despite carrying out several of his routines correctly.

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