Norris: "It will be the champion who makes less mistakes"

"Who wins this season will depend on who makes the fewest mistakes," said Norris, who is in the midst of an intra-squad rivalry with Oscar Piastri.

Norris, in his assessment at Spa, stated that his performance wasn't at its full potential due to some setup errors and battery strategies. "I wasn't good in the last two corners," he said, "but the battery setup also gave Oscar an advantage. So it was inevitable that I would be overtaken."

Norris, who admitted that some of his early-season mistakes stemmed from high expectations for performance, emphasized that he's now learned that pole position or second place can be achieved with laps clocked at 95 percent. "I tried to lap at 101 percent, but that doesn't always work," he said.

When asked whether Red Bull driver Max Verstappen could be involved in the title race, Norris said: "Nothing is impossible. But we have a better car and team now."

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri

Photo: Erik Junius

Norris, speaking about his compatibility with the car, said that this year's McLaren had different driving dynamics compared to previous seasons. "This year, I struggled on tracks where the car's front end was more heavily loaded," he said. "Steering feel was especially important in places like China and Monaco."

Detailing the events at Spa, Norris added that his pit-entry error and slow pitstop cost him a total of around four seconds. "These are things we've learned from," he said, adding that the team was working on these issues.