Lando Norris felt "pretty down for a week" after wasting his chances in Brazil

Lando Norris and Max Verstappen have maintaind a fierce rivalry this Formula 1 season, but Verstappen is now very close to winning his fourth World Champion title, which could happen this weekend in Las Vegas GP.

The season started with the expected dominance by Verstappen and Red Bull, but later in the season, McLaren and Norris started shortening Verstappen's advantage.

Everything could have changed in Brazil, three weeks ago, when Norris won the sprint race, reducing the distance he had with Verstappen to just 44 points... but ended up finishing sixth in Sunday's race with Verstappen climbing from P17 to P1, one of the most impressive comebacks in F1 history.

"This was almost a defining moment for the championship... It was a defining moment for the championship. The doors are almost shut" Norris acknowledges on F1 website.

"For a week I was pretty down, because I had that realisation of things pretty much being out of my control now, not within reach necessarily. That's a tough realisation when your hopes and belief are so high. For it to get knocked down so much all of a sudden was pretty demoralising."

However, despite having almost no chances of overtaking the three-times world champion, Norris has the opportunity to defend McLaren's first constructor's crown since 1998, with 36 ahead of Ferrari and 13 ahead of Verstappen's Red Bull. And overall he is very proud of how the season has worked out for him.

"I've been very happy with how the last few months have gone, honestly. I wouldn't change many things that have happened (...) I'm not completely satisfied with how I've done and I definitely know I need to make improvements. But, for the first time, I'm confident to say I have what I think I need to fight for a championship."

"When you're competing against drivers who are close to that, like Max, you have to be close to perfect if you want to challenge him", he added.