Lando Norris joked that Max Verstappen should go into comedy after the Red Bull driver claimed he would have won this year’s F1 world title sooner if he was driving in a McLaren.
Verstappen sealed his fourth successive world championship in Las Vegas last weekend, with Norris now unable to catch him with two rounds remaining in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
Yet the Dutchman told sections of the media after the race in Vegas that he would have won the 2024 title “even earlier” in a McLaren – and at “pretty much the same” time in a Ferrari. Red Bull are currently third in the constructors’ championship.
Yet Norris, when asked about Verstappen’s statement, sharply rebuked: “He should start doing comedy or something. He can say whatever he wants.
“Of course, I completely disagree, as I would. He’s good, but, yeah, it’s not true.
“Red Bull probably would have won the constructors’ if they had two drivers as good as Max, that’s for sure.
“That’s clear. That’s obvious. It shows that as a team they’ve still probably done the best job. It’s tough.
“Max has proved with everybody that he has gone up against, he has beaten. That’s tough for any teammate. It has got nothing to do with me. I don’t care. He can have any teammate he wants.”
Verstappen is a mammoth 251 points ahead of teammate Sergio Perez, whose future at Red Bull is shrouded in uncertainty ahead of the final two races.
Norris is looking to seal second place in the drivers’ championship, with Charles Leclerc just 21 points behind in third. McLaren go into this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix with a 24-point lead over Ferrari.
