“And that’s not an over-confident saying, that’s… I know I made my mistakes, I know what I’m capable of doing, and I know if I can improve on these things it’s definitely possible, so I’m excited. As much as I want this season now to end and I want to go have a holiday, I’m also really looking forward to next year.”
Norris later elaborated further on the performances that he had learned the most from in 2024, with the 25-year-old citing several of his on-track duels with Verstappen.
READ MORE: Our writers pick their best drivers and favourite stories from 2024 – and who needs to up their game in 2025
“Honestly, it’s probably the harder moments which are the ones you learn the most [from],” he explained. “So it’s kind of true what people say. But those harder times, my battles with Max, that kind of thing, certain other cases throughout the season…
“I’ve definitely stepped it up at a good level this season. I obviously lost out on a few things, and there were maybe three starts this year which lost me one or two positions at times. But they were positions quite often just to Max, or it was Budapest and one to Oscar [Piastri] and little things like that.
“But none of them, when I look back on them, made me feel like, ‘well, I’ve not got what it takes’. Those moments only came when it was directly against Max. And it’s Max – going up against Max in any state is always going to be tricky, and no one has a nice time racing Max.
“I think Mexico was a bit of a turning point when it was proved that not everything he does is perfect. I think if we all go back to Austin and go back to Turn 12, the majority of – [or] almost everyone on the grid – as drivers and also externally, disagreed with the fact I got the penalty. We either both should not have got one or we both should have got one.
