Max Verstappen expects ‘many more battles’ with Lando Norris
Max Verstappen predicts more close battles with Lando Norris after beating his friend to F1 title.
Max Verstappen says he expects to have “many more battles” with F1 rival and friend Lando Norris.
The Red Bull driver finished fifth, one place ahead of Norris, at the Las Vegas Grand Prix to clinch his fourth consecutive world championship with two races remaining this season.
Verstappen ended the race with an unassailable 63-point lead over Norris, who emerged as the Dutchman’s nearest challenger throughout the year.
“We have a lot of incredible young talent in the sport and Lando is definitely one of them. And of course, at times, he made it very difficult for me,” Verstappen said.
“We simply didn't have an answer in many races where they were just clearly faster. So that made it, of course, difficult.
“But to win a championship, you need to be consistent. Sometimes you try to overperform. It doesn't happen every weekend, but sometimes you can. And that's what we did.
"But of course, McLaren at the moment, you know, they're extremely strong. And of course, you know, Lando, I know him, of course, for a long time already. So also to race a friend of yours to the title is always a little bit different.
“But I think we have a lot of respect for each other. And yeah, well, I'm sure that we'll have many more battles to come.”
Asked if there was ever a point he felt Norris had a better chance of winning the title, Verstappen replied: “I would say from Miami onwards, most of the time we were not the quickest anymore. And Miami is still very early on in the season.
“So, you know, 50 points, 60 points, they can very easily be overturned if you keep maximising results and not do anything crazy. So, I mean, I've experienced that myself, being 30, 40 points down. I think in ‘22.
"Anything is possible, so I had that always in the back of my mind, but at the same time, it's just focus on what I could control within the team and just give it everything every single weekend.”
Verstappen said he expects next season to be "a proper battle between a lot of cars, but I’m hungry".
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