‘Special’ Formula 1 driver is now ‘fully committed’ to winning his first title with current team

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Lando Norris is reportedly confident that he can achieve not only his first race win but also his first Formula 1 world championship with McLaren.

Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Review Show, Naomi Schiff was talking about the youngster’s future ambitions.

More than half of the current drivers on the grid have a Formula 1 race win to their name.

Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen have nearly 200 victories between them, but several other drivers have managed one-off feats of brilliance to stand on the top step of the podium.

Pierre Gasly’s drive in Monza, Esteban Ocon in Hungary and George Russell’s maiden win in Sao Paulo all stand out.

F1 purists won’t count it, but rookie Oscar Piastri also has a winner’s trophy at home after taking the chequered flag in the Sprint Race in Qatar this year.

Lando Norris’s name is a notable omission from the list of winners in Formula 1, but that has to change sooner rather than later.

In fact, Schiff has shared that Norris believes he can win his first championship with McLaren.

The Woking-based team recognise they have one of the most exciting pairing in Formula 1 right now.

They will know they need to deliver a car that can match their ambitions going forward, otherwise, rumours that Norris could move on might end up coming to fruition.

Norris wants first world championship with McLaren

Discussing the 24-year-old, Simon Lazenby said: “We talk about team leaders, McLaren are going to have to start really challenging for wins soon aren’t they if they’re to keep someone of the talent of Lando Norris.”

Naomi Schiff replied: “He is special, he has been waiting very long already to get to this point and you’ve got to say that now they are as close as they’ve ever been at least in the time that Lando’s been with the team to potentially have those wins.

“I had the chance to sit down with Lando twice this season and he maintains the fact that he will become world champion with this team.

“He seems fully committed to them, he wants to win his first race with them and he believes it’s going to happen next season.

“Everything shows that that looks like it could be possible, that’s all going to depend on how far down the road Red Bull’s going to be.

“But I have some faith that the teams are reigning them in and hopefully we’ll see something papaya on the top step next year.”

Before Norris starts to think about his world championship with McLaren, he needs to get a win under his belt.

The domination of Red Bull and Max Verstappen makes that very difficult at the moment, with Norris finishing runner-up to the Dutchman on five occasions in 2023.

He has also had other opportunities to win that have been cruelly snatched away from him, such as the race in Russia in 2021 where an incorrect strategy call from the team cost him.

Norris is so highly rated and he’s been backed by his rivals to win titles in the future.

He’ll hope McLaren have continued to make big strides during the winter break heading into next season.