Lando Norris F1 News: McLaren star issues honest statement over FIERY Max Verstappen rivalry

Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, 2024, Photoshop, Social — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Superstars

Norris issues honest statement over FIERY Verstappen rivalry

Lando Norris and Max Verstappen were involved in a championship battle in 2024

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 4 January 2025 11:57 Updated: 16:04

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Lando Norris has issued an honest assessment of his fiery championship battle with four-time world champion Max Verstappen.

McLaren star Norris claimed four victories in 2024, taking the fight to Verstappen following the Dutchman's blistering start to the season.

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A 10-race winless run for Verstappen in the middle of the year however allowed Norris to start catching up to his rival, eventually falling short despite McLaren's clear pace advantage over Red Bull for large parts of the season.

Ultimately, Verstappen managed to claim nine race victories, obliterating his rivals in the drivers' standings once more despite his team's struggles, finishing ahead of nearest challenger Norris by 63 points.

Max Verstappen and Lando Norris were involved in a fierce championship battle in 2024

Norris' stark assessment of Verstappen F1 rivalry

The two drivers are great friends off-track, but were embroiled in some pretty fiery spats on it during the course of last season.

June's Austrian Grand Prix saw the pair collide, ultimately favouring Verstappen as he extended his lead at the top of the standings, while the Mexican GP saw Verstappen handed two 10-second time penalties for two separate incidents involving Norris.

The young Brit labelled Verstappen's driving as 'dangerous' on that day in Mexico, but congratulated his rival once he had finally wrapped up the championship title at the Las Vegas GP.

Now, Norris has made an honest admission about his rivalry with the four-time champion, and has suggested that he has gained confidence to give it another go in 2025.

"Of course. I fancied it already this year, but it was just a little too late," Norris told media at the 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi.

"I definitely have had things to improve on and to look back on and try [to] correct and to improve. Nevertheless, I think the thing I’ve learned and I’ve gained the most this year is confidence in myself.

"Sounds very simple, [but] I’ve just always been quite the opposite kind of guy, and I always find [that] I need to go out to prove it to myself before I want to start believing anything. This year, yeah I made some mistakes and I didn’t give a good enough fight to Max, but it was a good effort, and the one thing I’ve learned from [it is that] I have what it takes."

F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen McLaren Lando Norris