Lando Norris insists no 'regret' over costly F1 title errors

Lando Norris has claimed he does not "regret" any of the mistakes he made earlier in the season as his F1 drivers' championship fight with Oscar Piastri intensifies. The McLaren team-mates are locking in a close intra-squad battle for their maiden crowns, with just nine points separating the pair with 10 rounds remaining. F1 returns from its summer break with the Dutch Grand Prix this weekend, the scene of Norris' second victory last year. If he can repeat that triumph, he will close to - at worst - within two points of the Australian atop the standings. However, despite the narrow margins, the 25-year-old maintains he uses those missed opportunities to "learn and improve" moving forward. When asked whether he was worried some of the points he dropped could be decisive come the end of the year, Norris highlighted two specific moments that lost him a net 18 points combined. "Could I have, at times, made maybe better decisions? I think so," the nine-time grand prix winner told media, including RacingNews365 . "If I had that thought a little bit more in my head at the time... probably the main one was China sprint qualifying. "I think my lap was good enough for pole until the final hairpin, where I locked up. If I had that thought, probably just before the braking [zone]: 'It's a long season, don't try and be a hero', then I wouldn't have finished it - I lost eight points there. "If I go back to Canada, if I could re-run that and just be a little bit smarter and not take so much risk, could I have not lost quite a few points there? Yes."

'That's me, that's life, and that's the way it goes'

However, although those points could prove to be the difference at the season-concluding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Norris is adamant he will not rue his past failures. "But I'm also the guy that... Yeah, I wouldn't say I regret those moments," he explained. "Do I wish it changed, and do I wish it was better, do I wish I could maybe do it again? Yeah. But at the same time, I don't regret making those decisions at the time, because I think that's me, that's life, and that's the way it goes. "Sometimes, it goes your way and you get lucky, sometimes it goes the other way and you don't make the best decisions. "But those are also the times you quite often learn the most and help yourself more for the future. "So no, I think for me and my life, I would say I live it more by not regretting what I've done, more trying to learn and improve from that point onwards."