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Norris: I must win F2 to prove I'm as good as Leclerc

McLaren Formula 1 junior Lando Norris says he must win the 2018 F2 title if he is to prove he is as good as newly-crowned second-tier champion Charles Leclerc.

Lando Norris, Campos Racing

Lando Norris, Campos Racing

FIA Formula 2

Lando Norris, Campos Racing
Lando Norris, McLaren
Lando Norris, Campos Racing
Lando Norris, Campos Racing
Zak Brown watches Lando Norris, Campos Racing
Lando Norris, McLaren
Lando Norris, Campos Racing
Lando Norris, Campos Racing
Lando Norris, Campos Racing
Lando Norris, Campos Racing

Norris, the 2017 European Formula 3 champion in his rookie year in that category, is stepping up to F2 next season along with the Carlin squad.

Ferrari junior Leclerc won this year’s F2 championship in his first season in the F1-support series, taking seven wins and eight pole positions for Prema Racing.

The two champions shared a track at the F2 season finale in Abu Dhabi, where Norris was asked if he viewed 2018 as a one-year shot to move up the ladder to F1 – as Leclerc is expected to do with Sauber next season.

“I would expect to win if I win [races as a rookie],” said Norris. “Leclerc has done it this year so if I want to beat or prove I’m just as a good then I’m going to have to win. 

“I think that’s the main thing – I don’t think there’s any point in going for second or third. 

“Of course it’s hard to know what drivers are staying and doing another year – who is going to be experienced and who is new. It all changes, but winning the championship would be the aim. 

“After that, I couldn’t really say what I would want to do or what I would choose to do – if I didn’t win then [I’d] presume another year [in F2], but if I did I can’t do another year.”

Over the Abu Dhabi weekend – where he was making a one-off appearance for Campos – Norris scored a best finish of 13th in the sprint race after an engine problem stopped him in the feature event.

“They’ve been very good, better than I expected,” Norris said of Campos.

“As a team they’re very focused, they have a lot of information, the engineers are very good, and they try hard. They’ve definitely exceeded my expectations.”

F2 tyres trickier than F1 tyres

After sampling an F2 car competitively for the first time, Norris was asked to compare the second-tier machinery to the other cars he has driven in his career, which includes McLaren's current F1 car.

The 18-year-old pointed out that the Hankook tyres used in F3 were more durable, but that the F2 Pirellis were more of a struggle to adapt too compared to the rubber used in F1.

“[It’s] a lot more power from anything I’ve driven before, apart from the F1 car of course," he said.

“The tyre is one of the biggest things – with the Hankooks you could push 99 percent of the race and [with] the Pirellis you can push for a couple of laps and then you need to start saving. 

“It’s not easy and just going from one extreme to the other, basically. 

"I think the F2 tyres are probably one of the hardest things to adapt to - harder than what the F1 Pirellis were to get used to."

Additional reporting by Jonathan Noble

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