Lando Norris says he respects Max Verstappen but believes the four-time world champion has emulated Red Bull’s “aggressive nature”, claiming he would have won the title long ago had he been in a McLaren.
On Thursday, Verstappen spoke to F1TV at the Qatar Grand Prix and cited the unlikely nature of him still being in the title picture after starting the race weekend 24 points behind Norris.
“We have to be realistic too. The reason we’re still in this fight is because of other people’s failures, and if you look at the season as a whole, it’s not because of what we did,” Verstappen said. “Yes, we did really well and were able to perform to the maximum in almost every race… but if we had been in a position of superiority in their cars, even if I may say so, the championship would have been over a long time ago.”
After the sprint in Qatar, Norris was third and Verstappen fourth, extending his lead to 25 points. Norris said he did not see the Dutchman behind him despite Verstappen’s close attention during the early laps, but then responded to his own earlier comments.
“Of course I saw him, and he wasn’t a threat at all,” Norris said. “My focus was on George (Russell) and seeing how I could keep the tires in a good position for later.
“To be honest, Max is very welcome to say whatever he wants to say. He’s earned that right in a way. He’s won the world championship four times. I have a lot of respect for him and I think that gives a lot of credit to anyone in general. He’s achieved incredible things and generally more than anyone could dream of achieving.”
“Max generally has a good clue about a lot of things, but there are also a lot of things where he doesn’t have a lot of clues. But that’s also the way Red Bull does things. It’s this kind of aggressive nature, and a lot of times you’re just talking nonsense.”
“It depends on whether you want to hear it and talk about it, as (the media) likes to do, or do what we do as a team. It’s about keeping your head down and staying focused, in a way. He probably would have done it (winning the title), but he hasn’t done that so far. He keeps trying.”
Verstappen also claimed a year ago that he could have won the championship sooner if he had driven for McLaren in 2024, to which Norris responded: “He should start doing comedy or something. He can say whatever he wants. Of course, as I do, it’s a shame that I have to agree. He’s a good guy, but yeah, that’s not true.”
