-1734148697.jpg)
While accepting the second-place trophy for his performance this year, Norris took a moment to retract the statement he made about Verstappen’s Brazil win being more luck than talent.
The 2024 FIA Awards have just concluded, bringing an official end to a contentious season that saw McLaren’s Lando Norris mount a title challenge against the once-dominant Max Verstappen.
Though Verstappen did ultimately secure his fourth consecutive World Championship in 2024, Norris was really the only driver that could give the Dutch racer a run for his money, which is itself quite an accomplishment.
But the more contentious the title fight, the higher the emotions — evidenced by some specific comments made by Norris after Verstappen won the rain-soaked Brazilian Grand Prix.
Brazil turned out to be a critical moment in the 2024 championship. There, polesitter Lando Norris dropped down the running order to finish sixth, while Verstappen took a victory from 17th on the grid.
Norris had pitted just before the end of a virtual safety car period, but a heavy crash brought out a red flag soon after, effectively giving Verstappen a “free” opportunity to change his tyres during the pause in the race.
“Yeah, you can change your tyres under the red flag. That’s what the others did. So just unlucky, unfortunate,” Norris said to media at the time.
“Sometimes it just goes your way, you know. So nothing we did wrong. I don’t get what people say — staying out was not the right thing to do.
It shouldn’t have been red-flagged, but obviously, there was the crash, in the end, which caused the red so just… that’s life sometimes.
“You take a gamble, it’s paid off for them. It’s not talent or, you know, it’s just luck. So, just a bit unlucky.”
The line about Verstappen finding a bit of luck in Brazil aired during the FIA gala, as part of a dramatic recap of the 2024 season.
When Norris was brought on stage to receive his second-place trophy, he ignored the first question about how he reflects on the season in order to address the Brazil GP comments.
“First of all, I retract that comment back there, where I said it was all luck, no talent,” Norris said, gesturing at the video screen.
“You know how the media changes things.”
The implication here seems to be that Norris meant Red Bull were simply able to capitalize on an unfortunate situation; he seems not to have meant it as a slight against Verstappen.
Norris continued, “First of all, congratulations to Max [Verstappen]. What he did this year, what he did in Brazil, of course, was incredible.
“I’m the first one to acknowledge such a thing when I’m the one going up against him. It was a tough season, of course. I tried to put up my best and give the best battle that I could, but this year was not enough.
“At the same time, sometimes I’m happy to finish second to Max, because I think it’s an achievement to do a lot better than that. A wonderful year for myself. A lot of achievements.
“A lot of improvements from myself — but I also know that I need to step it up and do more than I did this year, so I’m excited to look forward to next year and try to do the same.”
Norris went on to congratulate his team, McLaren, on its first Championship in 26 years. He was instructed to remain on the stage as the team was awarded its WCC.
After that celebration, Verstappen was invited on stage to receive his own trophy for securing the World Constructors’ Championship.
He did not mention Norris by name, instead passing a more general compliment to the rest of the field.
“The competition, they improved their cars a lot and made it a lot more difficult for us, especially in the Constructors’,” Verstappen said.
“We had a bit of a tough run in the middle of the season, but even under pressure, we’re having tough times, I think the team really stuck together.”
