Norris reflects on Zandvoort's painful DNF as title fight gets tougher

19:46, 04 Sep

Updated: 21:30, 04 Sep

byTobia Elia

After his costly DNF in Zandvoort, Lando Norris reflected on the title fight in the drivers' championship, which now sees him trailing his teammate by 34 points heading into the Italian GP.

Lando Norris is seeking redemption at Monza after the unexpected retirement caused by a technical problem in the final laps of the Dutch GP, when he was fighting for victory with his teammate.

The Brit now finds himself once again chasing in the standings which, with nine races to go, sees Piastri firmly in the lead with a 34-point advantage, meaning he can manage more than a race win’s margin.

Speaking to GPblog on the eve of the Italian GP, one of the nine remaining rounds of the season, Norris reflected on what happened at Zandvoort but stressed that he wants to turn the page and move forward.

Lando Norris Monza Italian GP Media Day McLaren

Lando Norris arrives Monza for the Italian GP media day

Norris wants to move on after painful DNF in Dutch GP

''Of course it's frustrating, but at the same time the reasoning of it makes it pretty easy to just move on from,'' he stated.

''If it was something I did, I'd probably be still kicking myself or I'd still be pretty down about it, but I think the fact it had nothing to do with me, with what I did or how I was driving or my decisions, it's pretty easy just to go 'this is life.'''

''What can I do is... it's surprisingly easy probably for myself to put it behind and look ahead to this weekend, so that's what I'm excited for.''

He then added: ''You just can't do anything about it. I can literally only look ahead to the next few races and try and do more than I've ever done.''

Finally, Lando admitted that even if he were to lose the championship because of that retirement, he would not make a drama out of it: ''If I lose the championship by those points, then I just have to keep my chin up, my head up high and try and do it again next year.''

''I can't dwell on those moments too much. It's not anyone's direct fault. Even if it was, I just have to take it on the chin and move on, so that's what we're trying to do.''