Norris claims “no one has a nice time” racing Verstappen

Lando Norris has insisted “no one has a nice time” racing Max Verstappen after a number of run-ins with the four-time Formula 1 world champion across the past season.

McLaren driver Norris took victory in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to clinch a first constructors’ championship for the Woking-based outfit since 1998, holding off Ferrari’s late-campaign surge.

But nerves were increased for McLaren when Oscar Piastri was spun out of second place at the first corner by Verstappen, who picked up a 10-second penalty for the contact.

Norris himself came to blows with the Red Bull driver on a number of occasions in 2024, not least at the Austrian Grand Prix where the duo made contact that eliminated the Briton, the United States Grand Prix where Norris was penalised after a scrap for position and the Mexican Grand Prix, where Verstappen fell foul of the stewards.

Reviewing his season after his victory at Yas Marina, Norris spoke of his improved performances and insisted he had not lost confidence when losing out to Verstappen.

“I’ve definitely stepped it up at a good level this season,” he said. “I obviously lost out on a few things and there were maybe three starts this year, which lost me one or two positions at times.

“But they were positions quite often just to Max. Or it was Budapest and one to Oscar and little things like that. But none of them, when I look back on them, made me feel like, well, I’ve not got what it takes.”

On battling Verstappen on track, Norris added: “Going up against Max in any state is always going to be tricky and no one has a nice time racing Max.

“I think Mexico was a bit of a turning point when it was proved that not everything he does is perfect. I think if we all go back to Austin and go back to Turn 12, almost everyone on the grid, as drivers and also externally, disagreed with the fact I got the penalty. We either both should not have got one or we both should have got one.”

On his confidence levels, Norris explained: “Certainly, from a pace point of view, I have not doubted myself this year and I think I’ve definitely given myself more faith.

“When I look at qualifying, I remember 12 months ago here, I messed up my Q3 lap, a lap that I should have done P2 when I had a big slide in 12, 13 and I was pretty annoyed with myself post-quali and that was what everyone spoke about then.

“But that’s not really happened this year. I’ve closed off my quali laps. I’ve improved in all those areas and it was more just that toe-to-toe fight, with one of the best in the world.

“And the thing is, what you don’t see on the outside are some of those moments where if I did certain things, we would have crashed. People on the outside have no idea on what it takes and those moments where you accept losing a battle and that is the case.

“That was because of where we were in the first six, seven races of the year. We lost too many points and I was just in that position where I couldn’t gain as much as what I needed to and wanted to. But I’m not using any of these as excuses.

“I’m saying I didn’t have what it took this season to fight against Max and deliver what I needed to deliver. But it certainly gave me the feeling of, ‘OK, if I improve this little bit here, this little bit here’, for the first time, I have confidence in saying I’ve definitely got what it takes.”