George Russell vows to give Max Verstappen “proper fight” after Lando Norris dig

George Russell says “it's about time” someone gives Max Verstappen “a proper fight” for the F1 title following his victory at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Russell dominated the race from pole position in Las Vegas to take the win ahead of Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, handing the team their first 1-2 of the year.

The British driver has enjoyed a strong year with Mercedes, taking two victories.

Without his DSQ that could have been three wins, while he was leading in Brazil before Mercedes called him into the pit lane for fresh intermediates as the VSC ended - a call he didn’t want to happen.

Speaking after his win in Las Vegas, Russell feels he’s the driver to give Verstappen a more challenging fight for the title, hinting that Lando Norris should have done a better job.

“I just want to make sure we get in that fight now because it’s about time somebody gave him a proper fight,” he told Viaplay. “That’s my plan, that’s what I want to do.

“He’s a fierce competitor and Red Bull are doing amazing but this championship probably should’ve gone down to the wire.

“You could argue that Max probably wasn’t the favourite at one point and yet he wins it with races to go.

“So we need to get our stuff together to make it a bit more challenging.”

Verstappen clinched his fourth F1 title in Vegas after finishing P5, one place ahead of Norris.

From Imola onwards, it looked like Norris would have a serious chance of taking his maiden F1 title with McLaren having the edge over Red Bull.

However, even though Verstappen has taken just one win since the Spanish Grand Prix in June, he’s remained consistent and extended his lead over Norris despite the issues faced with the RB20.

Speaking in the FIA press conference after the race, Russell lauded Verstappen for his campaign.

“Yeah, exceptional. I mean, he had a dominant car at the start of the year and he got the wind when he needed to and then genuinely thought he probably wasn't going to win this championship,” Russell added. “And he delivered week in, week out, and got the best result the car was capable of and his rivals didn't.

“And, you know, I thought it was going to go right to the wire. And, yeah, he won [with] three races to go. So, you know, huge congrats to him. We just got to make sure that we get ourselves in that fight.

“And give him a harder time. Because it's about time, I think we feel ready to try and take that challenge to the front.”