\n<\/p>\n
Norris made his Formula 1 debut in 2019, meaning he had to wait five years to claim his first race win.<\/p>\n
Before this year he had claimed eight second-place finishes and regularly showed his ability as a driver capable of challenging at the top of the field.<\/p>\n
Prior to this season, McLaren had won just one race since 2012 – when Daniel Ricciardo won at Monza in 2021 – but this year they won five grands prix with Oscar Piastri also winning twice.<\/p>\n
Norris believes he and the team have grown as the season has gone on.<\/p>\n
“I feel like since Zandvoort [the Dutch Grand Prix in August] I’ve done close to a perfect job,” he told Sky F1. <\/p>\n
“There are things I need to improve on as always, but I feel like I’ve done a good job, especially the second half of the season.<\/p>\n
“The first half we were suddenly like ‘oh we are fighting them [Red Bull]’. I don’t think I or us as a team were mentally ready for fighting against the big boys and execute perfectly.<\/p>\n
“As much as we would like to believe we were ready, we weren’t and we paid the price a little bit.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n