Won’t matter once we’re all dead – Lando Norris plays down F1 title battle

By Philip Duncan, PA F1 Correspondent, Hungaroring

Lando Norris said it does not matter if he fails to beat Oscar Piastri to the world championship because “in 200 years we will all be dead”.

Norris arrives for the concluding round before Formula One’s three-week summer shutdown 16 points behind McLaren team-mate Piastri in the standings.

The title momentum swung back in Piastri’s favour at last weekend’s rain-hit round in Belgium. Norris started on pole position but allowed Piastri to swoop past in the treacherous conditions.

Norris was unable to stop Red Bull’s Max Verstappen from taking his fourth consecutive championship last year, but such is McLaren’s superiority, it is team-mate Piastri who has emerged as his sole rival for this season’s crown.

Piastri has six wins to Norris’ four but when asked if he needs to get under the Australian’s skin to land his maiden F1 title, Norris replied: “I don’t enjoy that. In 200 years no one is going to care. We’ll all be dead.

“I am trying to have a good time. I still care about it, and that’s why I get upset sometimes and I get disappointed and I get angry at myself. And I think that shows just how much I care about winning and losing.

“But that doesn’t mean I need to take it out on Oscar. I just don’t get into those kind of things.”

Historically, intra-team title battles rarely end well in F1, but Norris continued: “Yes, he (Piastri) is the guy I want to beat more than anyone else.

“But if I don’t beat him, then that’s just because he has done a better job. I will do it the way I believe is best for me, and just because one person did it a few years ago, it doesn’t mean you have to do that, too. I don’t really care about those things.”

At the Hungaroring on Friday, Norris completed an impressive practice double – beating Piastri by just 0.019 seconds in the first session before extending his advantage to nearly three tenths later in the day.

Norris has never been out-qualified by a team-mate on his six previous visits here, and he will be encouraged by his showing in practice.

Over at Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton has won a record eight times in Hungary and has secured nine pole positions. But the 40-year-old, who remains without a podium in Ferrari colours, struggled for pace on Friday.

In the first session, he complained his car didn’t “feel good” and ran off the road at the first corner following a major lock-up. He ended the day in sixth, three tenths and as many places behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Verstappen ended speculation he could leave Red Bull at the end of the year by committing his future there for at least another season. However, he finished a distant 14th in practice, 1.1 seconds slower than Norris.

“I don’t know what is going on,” said Verstappen over the radio. “It is just undriveable.”

Verstappen is also facing a stewards’ investigation after he threw a towel – seemingly left in the Dutchman’s cockpit by accident – out of his car.