Three-time F1 World Champion Max Verstappen, who enjoyed a dominant 17-race wins season in 2023, has been humbled this year with rivals McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari producing notable gains. Verstappen is known to be ruthless when he has to fight wheel-to-wheel for a position.
Tensions always tends to escalate when Max Verstappen finds himself comprised of the race lead and during the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix, he rammed into Lando Norris resulting in an unfortunate crash. While Max might be ruthless, McLaren hero Norris is also not holding back as he fired a warning to the Red Bull driver ahead of second half resumption.
Lando Norris To Go Ruthless Against Best Friend, Max Verstappen
McLaren driver Lando Norris and Red Bull champion Max Verstappen have been best friends since their junior days. However, their friendship turned sour at the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix when they crashed while fighting for the lead. While Max settled for P5, Norris had to abort his race due to a puncture. Having said that, a war of words broke out between the two feisty drivers before they sorted out the differences ahead of the British Grand Prix. Regardless, with Norris’ championship trail reduced to 77 points, he expects the fight to get more intense with Verstappen, which may result in crashes. “I expect to crash more in the future with different people, with Max,” Norris said.
Not only that, Lando Norris expects hostility with Max Verstappen to increase in the next 5-10 years as McLaren has become competitive lately. McLaren has already achieved the target of being the fastest car this year, and hence, in the near future, they will see the establishment of a new era of dominance. Undoubtedly, Norris will be the focal point of McLaren’s rise to stardom. He retained faith in the Papaya team when they toppled to its lowest and signed a five-year extension contract. And McLaren, on their part, delivered to steer Norris to his first career win at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix. While Lando could have won more races if not for his own mistakes and faulty race strategy, the future appears bright for the young British driver regardless. Hence, Max Verstappen will certainly have a target on his back next year, especially from his best friend, Lando Norris.
Verstappen Tips His Hat Off To McLaren For Unreal Turnaround
McLaren was one of the first teams to challenge Red Bull Racing this year. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have won a race each, and currently, the Papaya team possesses the fastest car on the grid. Hence, defending champion Max Verstappen had no choice but to tip their hat off to McLaren and acknowledge its turnaround.
Max Verstappen admitted that McLaren and Mercedes are ahead of Red Bull. “We know that we want to do better. But everyone is doing a great job, and you have to take your hat off for that as well,” Verstappen said. However, regardless of the competition, the Dutch driver is confident of a positive run in the second half.
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