Lewis Hamilton hopes Lando Norris can take F1 title race against Max Verstappen ‘down to the wire’

Lewis Hamilton insists there are “plenty of points to play for” as Lando Norris looks to launch an ambitious title fightback against Max Verstappen .

McLaren ’s Norris trails Verstappen by 70 points with nine races left but will be buoyed by his superior speed during his win last Sunday at the Dutch Grand Prix, where the Brit beat the Dutchman by 22.8 seconds.

And seven-time F1 champion Hamilton, who won his first world championship with McLaren in 2008 and was involved in a famous title race with Verstappen in 2021, hopes his compatriot can take it down to the final race in Abu Dhabi on December 8.

“There are a lot of points on the table so it is not impossible,” Hamilton said ahead of this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.

“Max only needs to finish second at every race to win, and Lando would have to win all of those races and that could still not be enough, so there will need to be some fortune in it.

“I hope it goes down to the wire because that will be great for the fans, and with the performance they (McLaren) showed last weekend, maybe they could (win the championship).”

Norris celebrated the second victory of his career in Zandvoort last Sunday with a low-key dinner out in Monaco before he was forced to push his half-century-old Lamborghini Miura back home after it broke down.

The 24-year-old insists he is coping with the pressure of being a title contender for the first time.

“Because I struggled with that when I started in Formula One, I feel like I learned how to handle the pressure, and that’s helped me in the position I am now,” he said.

“Dealing with more questions and the pressure of everyone thinking that I have to deliver every single weekend. I also know myself that I have to deliver every single weekend.

“Externally, there will be more pressure on me. I still get so nervous for qualifying. For the races, I still get just as excited and just as nervous. I don’t eat anything on Sundays. I struggle to drink on Sundays. Just because I’m nervous. But it’s just how you turn it into a positive thing and how do you not let it affect you in a bad way.

“When you have to go out and deliver in qualifying it gives me butterflies every time because you know if you brake a metre too late, or turn in at the wrong time, you are finished, it is game over, and the knowledge of that puts you under an intense feeling that I don’t think is replicated in many sports.”

While on track action in Monza doesn’t start until Friday, the safety car was involved in a high-speed crash during testing on Thursday – with both driver and passenger unharmed in the unusual incident.