Was Lando Norris too submissive in F1 title battle with Max Verstappen in 2024?

McLaren team boss Zak Brown says Lando Norris raced Max Verstappen “really hard” in the 2024 Formula 1 season but suggests his driver may have to up his aggression levels.

After hitting the ground running in the first 10 races of the 2024 season, in which he won seven grands prix, Verstappen and Red Bull came under increasing threat from Norris and McLaren.

On several occasions, the pair engaged each other hard on track - most notably Austria, when they collided in the closing stages.

Despite the Red Bull’s obvious weaknesses compared to the McLaren, Verstappen was still crowned the 2024 world champion with two rounds to spare.

Norris comes into the Abu Dhabi finale eight points clear of Charles Leclerc in the race to finish second in the standings.

Asked by Sky Sports F1 on Friday if he felt Norris was perhaps too submissive against Verstappen in 2024, Brown suggested that the former may have to alter his approach in 2025.

“I think we’ve seen him race Max really hard,” he said.

“Lando’s a different kind of character. I think he’s going to do his talking on the track, versus making a lot of comments off the track.

“That’s the nature, so I think he’s learning how to race Max.

“He raced him pretty hard but also knew he wasn’t going to be given a lot of space.

“I’m glad he was able to avoid incidents, but I think that’s something he’s going to have to decide how he wants to race Max next year.”

Constructors’ title showdown being treated as normal weekend

While Norris is in his own race to finish runner-up in the drivers’ standings, McLaren could also secure its first constructors’ championship since 1998 in Abu Dhabi.

It leads Ferrari by 21 points, with McLaren dealt a helping hand by Leclerc being hit with a 10-place grid drop for needing a new battery after encountering issues in FP1.

But, as far as Brown is concerned, McLaren is treating Abu Dhabi as a normal weekend and feels “it would be a mistake” to alter that thinking.

“We’re trying to ignore that it’s a big race weekend, which I think is going really well for the team - me a little bit less so,” he added.

“But I think what’s important is we just go racing as we’ve gone racing for the last 23 races.

“The minute we try to start doing something differently, I think that would be a mistake.

“So, we’re just trying to treat it like any other weekend, of course paying attention to the red cars.

“We’ll see how the race plays out if we’re racing for a championship. Right now, it’s business as usual.”

On Leclerc’s penalty, Brown noted: “It doesn’t hurt, but their car is very fast. We know they will be fast around here.

“We’ve seen Max go from P17 to win [in Brazil].

“Obviously, it was a little bit different circumstances, assuming it doesn’t have a torrential downpour here on Sunday. But we want to win it on track.”