2 hours ago
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Lando Norris says Max Verstappen "should commencement doing comedy" aft the Dutchman suggested helium could person won the satellite rubric successful Norris' McLaren.
The Red Bull driver's remarks are based connected his content that the McLaren was the faster car for overmuch of the season.
"He tin accidental immoderate helium wants. Of people I wholly disagree, arsenic I would," Norris said. "He's good, but yeah. It's not true.
"I cognize what Max is susceptible of doing and I similar his assurance but I tin accidental whatever. Not possible."
Verstappen said aft past weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix, wherever helium won the title, that helium would person wrapped it up sooner if helium were driving for McLaren, and that it would person been "pretty overmuch the same" successful a Ferrari.
Norris said that helium had "maybe made excessively galore mistakes" this year.
And helium acknowledged that the McLaren had been faster for much than fractional the season.
But helium pointed retired that Verstappen had built a immense pb erstwhile the Red Bull was dominating aboriginal on, erstwhile Verstappen won 4 of the archetypal 5 races astatine a clip erstwhile the McLaren was considerably slower than the Red Bull.
"For the bulk of the play we've had a amended car than Red Bull but erstwhile I’ve been winning helium was second, third, erstwhile helium was winning, I was fifth, sixth," Norris said.
"I don't deliberation we could person oregon deserved to triumph the rubric arsenic a driver, but I'm assured that for the archetypal clip successful my vocation we volition spell into a twelvemonth with the thought of challenging for the title. We didn't expect it this year."
In the archetypal 5 races of the year, the Red Bull was connected mean 0.45 seconds a thigh faster than the McLaren successful qualifying. And implicit the archetypal fractional of the season, it was 0.23secs faster.
McLaren person turned the tables successful the 2nd fractional of the season, successful which their car has qualified connected mean 0.124secs faster than the Red Bull.
However, Verstappen's mean qualifying presumption implicit the twelvemonth is 2.5 compared to Norris' 3.7.
Norris has besides had to vie with team-mate Oscar Piastri, who has taken 2 wins to Norris' three, portion Verstappen has dominated the different Red Bull driver, Sergio Perez.
"He has to bash each of his enactment connected his own, which is hats disconnected to him," Norris said. "He doesn't person idiosyncratic who is pushing him. He doesn't person idiosyncratic who's trying different things with the car.
"The data's not arsenic invaluable erstwhile you don't person idiosyncratic who's performing astatine the aforesaid level.
"There's a batch of things that Max tin bash that are phenomenal. Driving astatine the level helium does consistently without a team-mate that tin propulsion him successful immoderate mode surely makes his beingness harder.
"But astatine the aforesaid clip there's nary pressure. He doesn't person to woody with trying to bushed anyone successful his ain team. That comes with immoderate comfort.”
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who is 3rd successful the title heading into the last 2 races of the play successful Qatar and Abu Dhabi besides questioned Verstappen’s claim.
Leclerc acknowledged that Verstappen is simply a "very peculiar driver", adding: "What makes him peculiar is besides the assurance that helium has".
But helium added: “However, I deliberation it's precise hard to accidental thing similar that not knowing really what the car is like,” helium added.
"He's an unthinkable driver, nary doubt. Whether helium would person made it oregon not [in the 2024 Ferrari], I don't cognize however the Red Bull is, however the McLaren is, and helium doesn't cognize however the Ferrari is.
"So, it's possibly a spot of a agelong to accidental thing similar that."
McLaren pb Ferrari by 24 points successful the constructors' title with 103 points inactive available. Red Bull are third, 53 points disconnected the lead.
McLaren are gunning for their archetypal constructors' rubric since 1998, and Ferrari a archetypal since 2008.
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