Norris still haunted by Zandvoort DNF despite Mexico triumph

Since then though, Norris has not missed a visit to the podium in each of the past races, save for his P7 in Azerbaijan, with his latest win in Mexico propelling him to the lead in the championship by one point ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri.

Nevertheless the 18 points dramatically lost at the Dutch Grand Prix, Norris states, still weigh on him, particularly because it was Piastri who went onto win the race from pole, thus bagging a 25-point net gain on him in the standings.

He said: "It's still very clear in my head [the Zandvoort DNF]. So, yeah. I mean, you put that behind you. Right? You forget about that as much as you can, and you just focus on every race coming up."

Though, the McLaren driver does claim that the past needs to remain where it is in order to attack every race weekend with a fresh mindset.

He continued: "You forget about every previous weekend. Of course, you try and learn from every situation, but every weekend's new and you have a fresh start to try new things and try and do better than before. And I feel like that's what I've done very well this weekend.

Norris then stated that his approach would not change, regardless of the position he held in the championship standings.

"And, yeah, I think that'll be good. But it doesn't mean because I'm ahead or behind or whatever that I have to drive or do anything differently. So, just keep doing what I'm doing," Norris concluded.

Norris has managed to effectively turn around the deficit to teammate Piastri, despite the 18 points dropped in the Netherlands, to lead the F1 championship for the first time since relinquishing the lead in 20 April.

With four more rounds left to go in the Formula One championship, can the British driver hold on to the lead to win his first world title, and McLaren's first Drviers' crown since 2008?

It won't be easy, though, as he doesn't only have to defend his lead from his McLaren teammate, but also from rival Max Verstappen who's expected to come back to top form following Red Bull Racing's Mexico GP slump.

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