Lando Norris rubbished Max Verstappen’s claim that he would do much better in the McLaren than either of its current drivers.
He also indicated his scepticism over how serious Red Bull’s problems are with its car.Verstappen beat him to victory at Suzuka, capturing pole position by a hundredth of a second and keeping Norris at bay throughout the 53-lap race. Afterwards he claimed he would have been much further ahead if he was driving a McLaren.
Norris rejected Verstappen’s claim. “I don’t mind, he can say what he wants,” said the McLaren driver. “I don’t care, honestly. Everyone can say what they want and believe what they want.
“I believe both Oscar [Piastri] and myself are good drivers. He is maybe better at some things but he is not better in every area.
“I have a lot of respect for Max but I also know some things are not true, he can come and test our car any day that he wants and I’ll be excited to see the disappointment on his face after he gets out.”
Norris leads Verstappen by a single point at the top of the championship standings. Over four races so far, including the sprint event at Shanghai, each has finished in front of the other twice.
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While Norris admitted he could be further ahead, he also cast doubt on how serious Red Bull’s problems are with their RB21 chassis.
“It’s been a good start, I’m still leading. Could things have been slightly better, yes, but they’re not.
“Max and Red Bull have done a good job with a car that they say they’ve been struggling with. But for the same case we know our struggles, we know how tricky our car is to drive.
“It’s quick, and we acknowledge all of these things and the stuff people say, but we’ve also made some mistakes and we know we have to improve in certain areas.”
With three out of 24 rounds completed, Norris foresees a long championship fight with Verstappen. “We’ve got a long way to go, we have a lot of work we need to do still on this car before we can focus on next year.
“I’ve had some great results, especially in the main races [grands prix]. Of course, I lost a few points and a few in the sprint race in China.
“It’s been a good start, but there’s still plenty of opportunities for us to improve and still to do better than we’ve been doing and we need to do better because Max is close behind and I’m sure he’s going to be close behind for a long time.”
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2025 Japanese Grand Prix
- McLaren has to accept upsetting either of its drivers sometimes – Stella
- Verstappen ‘can test our car, I look forward to seeing his disappointment’ – Norris
- Verstappen insists McLaren domination claim was ‘no joke’ after Piastri’s doubt
- Extra mandatory pit stop won’t create more passing at tracks like Suzuka – Sainz
- Mercedes took note of Verstappen’s out-lap tactics after stunning Suzuka pole position
BasCB (@bascb)
10th April 2025, 20:42
Interesting take from Norris. I think i have to at least partly agree with him – yes, the Red Bull is certainly a handful and has a rather narrow window to get it right. But then, we’ve already seen that the McLaren also isn’t easy, both drivers have had issues getting the speed out of it consistently. So it just seems that currently the cars have to be on edge to make them as fast.
An Sionnach
11th April 2025, 1:05
Rob Marshall has had a hand in both cars. Not sure if that’s at least part of the reason.
BasCB (@bascb)
11th April 2025, 14:08
It might certainly have at least something to do with it, yes, although the Mercedes also became less driveable in recent years as they were more pushing to get back towards a competitive speed, and I think Alonso remarked the same goes for the AM.
Mark (@mrcento)
12th April 2025, 4:26
To be fair, i think it’s more just a case of this generation of cars generating that type of handling rather than something Rob Marshall specific. The McLaren was difficult long before he joined.
The only link there may be with Marshall is the anti dive element of the suspension. Pretty well known that it is very effective at stabilising the aero platform which is huge for ground effect cars, but it makes the front very difficult to feel, especially under braking.
In terms of who would do well in what, i have no doubt at all Max would dominate in the McLaren, even if it has handling quirks, so does the RBR and likely many are similar, he’d adapt. However i think it’s also totally fair to say that if you stuck Norris or Piastri in the 2nd RBR seat, they’d be an awful lot closer to Max than anyone who has tried before in the last 5+ years. For the same reason Max would do well in the McLaren, both in the difficult McLaren have shown they can drive around the quirks and get performance out it.
Patrick (@paeschli)
10th April 2025, 21:30
Drivers tripping over themselves saying how bad their car is :)
w0o0dy
10th April 2025, 22:04
Norris should thread carefully here. Knowing Max I know how he will respond. ” Prepare the car I will be there shortly”.
Max KNOWS his capabilities compared to others…and he knows how good he is at adapting.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th April 2025, 0:37
Yes, would be quite fun to see a headline “verstappen outperforms norris and piastri in first mclaren outing”!
MacLeod (@macleod)
11th April 2025, 8:09
Yes calling Max ‘bluff’ could be fun as we know Max would accept the challenge in an heartbeat if McLaren offers. Problem is the FIA doesn’t allow it as it counts as testing ….. if this was done after the season.
And during the season FP1 for example engine wear and legal stuff probally will stop that.
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
11th April 2025, 13:48
Well, we all know it is meaningless for Norris to ‘offer’ Max a drive in the McLaren. No team would allow a driver from another team to drive their car, learning it’s strengths and weaknesses, feeling the feedback and the other intangibles that can’t be defined by data – much less their direct championship rival. The only recent times when drivers have jumped teams mid-season are where they are non-permanent/reserve drivers or are filling in for an injured/ill primary driver.
Alonslow
10th April 2025, 22:52
I don’t think Max would be dissapointed at all that Mclaren is mighty quick.
Doggy
10th April 2025, 23:40
It’s a big bluff just because he knows nobody but McLaren driver can sit on that car. He should be more concerned about Oscar who has improved his game.
Having said that, it’s not like Max or any driver will start the car and be faster than lando and/or Oscar. ANYONE needs hundreds of laps in order to know the car.
What I do know is that Lando will perform worse driving the RBR than MV driving the mcl39
WickedWilly
11th April 2025, 5:25
I am sure Norris is correct about the current Red Bull that Max drives. He still has the same car that was light years infront of everyone else. The difference the illegal floor, wings and braking have all gone. Max is comparing the car to those old, illegal versions so of course it seems relatively more difficult to drive. If Max had had the real bad cars like Ferrari, Mercedes and others had in 2022 onwards, it would be a different story.
Erik
11th April 2025, 8:37
Remember Verstappen first win in Barcelona?? He didn’t need hundreds of laps….and even when you use the argument that Mercedes took themselves out that race. Verstappen still didn’t need hundreds of laps to become third in that race…And he was only 18!!
So no, I think you’re not correct in this matter.
Davethechicken
11th April 2025, 10:29
Max did need misfortune to strike his teammate also that race, but I agree with your sentiment
roadrunner (@roadrunner)
11th April 2025, 11:12
Did he?
Davethechicken
11th April 2025, 12:52
Yep, they put DR on the slower 3 stop strategy and he suffered a puncture as well. But still came in 4th. Riccardo led the race until he was pitted for the 3rd time and he was quite vocal in his annoyance at the team post race for the strategy error that cost him the win. But you knew that already, didn’t you?
baasbas
11th April 2025, 13:49
@Davethechicken
Why the constant undertone in your comments?
Kaspars
11th April 2025, 5:59
Max is just doing a Rosberg 2016.
Armchair Expert (@armchairexpert)
11th April 2025, 7:41
Funnily enough Norris had a chance to join Max at Red Bull, but he refused, because he’s scared he would’ve been found out as a driver (like every driver on the grid – Gasly, Albon, Perez, Lawson and Tsunoda can attest it).
Points after first 3 rounds:
-2023 Max 69 points (with starting one race from 15th postion after car failure in qualifying)
-2024 Max 51 points (with 1 DNF)
-2025 Max 61 points, Lando 62 points (even more chances to score with additional sprint race)
Norris already dropped 21 points and handed 8 of them to Max. That’s the truth, everything else is coping.
Ferdi
11th April 2025, 10:27
This is such an endearing attempt from Lando to enter the mental games arena. He’d better not go there as I got the feeling this will not be an area of strength for him. He is better off concentrating on ironing out his frequent small flaws.
Paul
12th April 2025, 7:27
Noris should have suggested Max swaps his car with Yuki to actually show the difference between the cars instead. That would make headlines.. Yuki beats Max timing in Max’s cars.
RH
12th April 2025, 9:49
Norris is not gonna beat Oscar this year. That’s the hot take I have.
His pressure is now from within the team and he’s barely doing anything better than Oscar. Just lucky that he didn’t spin off like Oscar in Australia and hand Verstappen a win.