Lando Norris identifies major F1 'risk' change key to title challenge

Lando Norris believes his 'risk management' has steadily improved throughout the F1 season, after a number of costly errors in the opening rounds.

In China, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia, Norris made errors in qualifying which left him down the field, including a crash in Jeddah as team-mate Oscar Piastri romped to three wins, with Norris taking second, third, and fourth, respectively. 

He lost 30 points to Piastri across these three races, with the current points gap being 25 heading to Singapore, with 199 left and seven rounds to decide the title.

The Briton is firm that he is still making errors, but that his risk management has improved as the season has developed.

"I still make these mistakes, it is not that I [stopped], I still make mistakes," Norris told media, including RacingNews365. 

"I think some of the mistakes I make are maybe not the same size [as before], like there was a crash in Saudi Arabia [qualifying] and in China, like several places cost a lot of points.

"So it is not that I don't make mistakes, I try and improve in everything I can, both on and off the track.

"I guess understanding risk levels and accepting that sometimes a half-a-tenth loss instead of trying to gain half-a-tenth can be the difference between actually making a mistake of three-tenths and having a China or Saudi problem.

"So I guess my risk balance improved, and my driving, my ability to understand the car, I was struggling more with it then than I am now, so it was a collection of different things, but all improved because of work behind the scenes."