{"id":1435,"date":"2026-08-31T16:44:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T19:44:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=1435"},"modified":"2026-08-31T16:44:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T19:44:48","slug":"norris-asserts-confidence-and-ranks-himself-among-f1s-best-starters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/norris-asserts-confidence-and-ranks-himself-among-f1s-best-starters\/","title":{"rendered":"Norris asserts confidence and ranks himself among F1&#8217;s &#8220;best starters&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key takeaways<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>High self-belief:<\/strong> <strong>Lando Norris classified himself as &#8220;one of the best starters on the grid,&#8221;<\/strong> dismissing suggestions that race starts represent a weakness in his game.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Grip disparity at Zandvoort:<\/strong> <strong>The British driver attributed losing the lead on the restart to asymmetric grip levels<\/strong>, noting the left side of the grid lacked traction compared to the right.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Championship position:<\/strong> <strong>Victory at the Dutch GP moved Norris to 4th in the standings with 159 points<\/strong>, securing his second win of the 2026 season.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Lando Norris<\/strong> has strongly defended his starting ability, rating himself among Formula 1&#8217;s elite off the line despite losing the lead during a crucial restart at the <strong>Dutch Grand Prix<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The reigning World Champion secured his second consecutive victory of the <strong>2026 season<\/strong> at Zandvoort on August 23, recovering from an early setback. After losing the top spot to <strong>Andrea Kimi Antonelli<\/strong> on the standing restart following a red flag, Norris launched a decisive overtake around the outside of Turn 1 on Lap 54 to reclaim the lead and control the race to the checkered flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"819\" src=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/f1-2026-paises-baixos-corrida-mclaren-lando-norris-09-1024x819.jpg\" alt=\"F1 2026, PAISES BAIXOS, CORRIDA, MCLAREN, LANDO NORRIS\" class=\"wp-image-1020312969\" srcset=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/f1-2026-paises-baixos-corrida-mclaren-lando-norris-09-1024x819.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/f1-2026-paises-baixos-corrida-mclaren-lando-norris-09-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/f1-2026-paises-baixos-corrida-mclaren-lando-norris-09-768x614.jpg 768w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/f1-2026-paises-baixos-corrida-mclaren-lando-norris-09-1536x1229.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/f1-2026-paises-baixos-corrida-mclaren-lando-norris-09-2048x1638.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/f1-2026-paises-baixos-corrida-mclaren-lando-norris-09-150x120.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lando Norris maintains full confidence in his starting procedure and first-lap execution (Photo: Gabriel L\u00f3pez\/Grande Pr\u00eamio)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When asked by <strong>GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/strong> whether starts remain an area of concern, Norris firmly rejected the premise: &#8220;<strong>No, not at all. I&#8217;m one of the best starters on the grid. We saw in the sprint that starting from pole, the grip was lower than from second place. That was evident again today.<\/strong>&#8220;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;<strong>I don&#8217;t want to just blame myself or the team right now. Certainly, a big part of the issue was that we didn&#8217;t understand why I had so little grip compared to the right side of the grid. Sometimes it&#8217;s simply a bit of bad luck,<\/strong>&#8221; Norris added. &#8220;<strong>My starts have been very strong, so this is certainly not a weakness.<\/strong>&#8220;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Zandvoort victory brought Norris to <strong>159 points<\/strong>, elevating him to <strong>4th place<\/strong> in the Drivers&#8217; Championship with two victories and four podiums in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Norris&#8217;s comments come amidst a wave of technical and driver news across the paddock, including <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/mclaren-details-car-modification-behind-dutch-gp-performance-surge\/\">McLaren detailing the front wheel modification that unlocked their Zandvoort performance surge<\/a> and <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/how-verstappens-contract-extension-can-strengthen-red-bull-off-the-track-in-f1\/&amp;authuser=3\">Laurent Mekies explaining how Max Verstappen&#8217;s contract extension strengthens Red Bull off the track<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Formula 1 action resumes from <strong>September 4\u20136<\/strong> for the <strong>Italian Grand Prix at Monza<\/strong> (Round 13 of the 2026 season). <strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/\">GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/a><\/strong> will provide complete live coverage across every session. Follow all updates on our <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/\">news page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lando Norris 2026 Driver Championship Summary (Post-Dutch GP)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Metric<\/th><th>Stat \/ Position<\/th><th>Season Detail<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Championship Position<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>4th Place<\/strong><\/td><td>159 Points (83 behind leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Race Victories<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>2 Wins<\/strong><\/td><td>Dutch GP (Zandvoort) &amp; Previous Round<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Podium Finishes<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>4 Podiums<\/strong><\/td><td>2 Wins, 2 Additional Podiums<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Next Event<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Italian GP<\/strong><\/td><td>September 4\u20136 at Monza Circuit<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently asked questions (FAQ)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>1. Did Lando Norris win the 2026 Dutch Grand Prix?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yes, Lando Norris won the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, securing his second consecutive victory of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>2. Why did Lando Norris lose the lead during the Dutch GP restart?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Norris attributed the lost lead to a lack of grip on the pole side of the grid compared to the right-hand side, rather than a driver reaction error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>3. When is the next Formula 1 race on the 2026 calendar?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The next event is the <strong>Italian Grand Prix at Monza<\/strong>, taking place from <strong>September 4\u20136, 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lando Norris refutes claims that race starts remain a personal weakness, classifying himself among the strongest off the line in Formula 1 despite losing the lead at Zandvoort.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020312750,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Norris maintains full confidence in his starting procedure and first-lap execution","42wp_featured_image_credits":"McLaren","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[117,10,262],"42wp_author":[48],"class_list":["post-1435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","tag-lando-norris","tag-mclaren","tag-zandvoort","42wp_author-giovani-danjo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1435"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1436,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1435\/revisions\/1436"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020312750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1435"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=1435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}