Lando Norris praises himself for improving on one aspect this season - “That’s not a bad attitude, that’s just being realistic”

Lando Norris revealed that a major aspect of his improvement in the 2023 F1 season was realizing who he was racing against and acting accordingly.

In a season that saw an upward rise for McLaren, both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri marked their presence on the podium quite a few times. While Norris' performance is usually never doubted, his teammate performed exceptionally well, scoring the second most points as a rookie in the history of F1.

While the car's improvement in pace did help the driver, Lando Norris revealed to Autosport another aspect that helped him perform much better in races:

"I think one of those areas where I’ve done a good job this year is by reading the situations that I’m in, knowing who I’m racing against and who I’m not."

Norris felt that it was best for him to not battle against the raging Red Bull of Max Verstappen which performed extremely well:

"I know it’s a race at the end of the day, but the likelihood of losing a position to Max in Austin, and how I raced Lewis versus how I raced Max, in the end I kind of knew I was going to lose positions to both of them."

"That’s not a bad attitude, that’s just being realistic and honest about the situations I’m in."

Max Verstappen leads Lando Norris during the 2023 F1 US GP (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)

Despite McLaren's development, Red Bull's domination was hard to stop. McLaren's car, despite being the second-fastest in a handful of races during the second half of the season, was way off of the pace of the RB19.

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Lando Norris could have a much better-performing car in the 2024 F1 season according to Max Verstappen

While the Briton felt that it was useless to try and defend world champion Max Verstappen, the latter did speak about the positive development McLaren had made throughout the season.

Talking earlier about the battle that went on behind the leading Red Bull, Verstappen seemed particularly impressed by the pace that McLaren had gained.

"The one I think that was most impressive behind us from where they started to where they ended was definitely McLaren. It looks like they might be very strong next year."

While it is still hard to assume if Lando Norris will be able to battle with Red Bull in the 2024 F1 season, it is possible for the team to carry the momentum of the earlier season and put it to work for the 2024 car.

Lando Norris has been with the team since debuting in F1 in 2019. Despite his exceptional driving skills, the 24-year-old still lacks his first Formula 1 victory. Of the 104 races he has taken part in, Norris has finished in second place seven times but is always short of a win. The next season, however, could be better for the team and he might as well be able to take his first Grand Prix win.