Norris Dismisses Verstappen‘s Comments as “Nonsense” Following Qatar Sprint
Lusail, Qatar – A simmering rivalry between McLaren‘s Lando Norris and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has surfaced following Verstappen’s remarks regarding McLaren’s current performance. After Saturday’s sprint race in Qatar,where Norris extended his championship lead over Verstappen by a single point,the McLaren driver responded to comments made by the reigning World Champion.
Verstappen had stated that Red Bull’s current position in the championship is due to the failures of others, asserting, “We’re still in the game because of other people’s failures, not because of what we’ve done. If we’d been in a position with a car as dominant as they had, the championship would have been over a long time ago.”
Norris, while acknowledging Verstappen’s accomplishments, was quick to dismiss the sentiment. “Max can say what he wants. He’s earned that right by winning four world titles. I have a lot of respect for him and an achievement like that will be a great credit to anyone,” Norris began.
He continued, highlighting a perceived disconnect between Verstappen’s success and his understanding of the broader competitive landscape. “He’s accomplished an awful lot-more than most people even dream of.Max has a very good grasp of a lot of things, but there are areas he doesn’t have a clue about.”
Norris characterized Verstappen’s comments as typical of Red Bull’s communication style. “It’s a typical Red Bull aggressive style of expression.They talk nonsense very frequently enough. So it depends whether you want to listen to it and discuss it endlessly – and you journalists like to do that – or do what our team does. We just put our heads down and focus on our work.”
Concluding his response, Norris suggested Verstappen’s words were a psychological tactic. “Maybe he’s trying to psychologically attack us, but he hasn’t succeeded so far, although he’s still trying.”