FILE–Red Bull Racing’s Dutch driver Max Verstappen (L) talks with McLaren’s British driver Lando Norris after the qualifying session of the F1 Mexico City Grand Prix at the Hermanos Rodriguez racetrack, in Mexico City on October 26, 2024. (Photo by Alfredo ESTRELLA / AFP)
DOHA–Lando Norris has suggested Max Verstappen consider a career in comedy after the quadruple world champion claimed he would have also won this season’s Formula One title if driving a McLaren or a Ferrari instead of a Red Bull.
Verstappen told Dutch reporters after clinching his fourth successive crown in Las Vegas last Saturday that he would have wrapped it up a lot sooner in Norris’s McLaren.
He said it would have been “pretty much the same” in a Ferrari but the Mercedes car “would have been trickier”.
READ: Max Verstappen captures 4th F1 championship after Las Vegas Grand Prix
“He should start doing comedy or something,” said Norris, Verstappen’s closest title rival, when asked about the comments ahead of this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix.
“He can say whatever he wants. Of course I completely disagree, as I would.
“He’s good, but yeah. It’s not true.”
Verstappen has won eight grands prix this season but McLaren leads the constructors’ championship with a 24 points advantage over Ferrari. Red Bull is third.
READ: F1: Lando Norris delighted after beating Verstappen on US GP pole
All four top teams have finished one-two this season, Mercedes doing so in the chilly Las Vegas conditions with a car that has generally proved a handful for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in warmer temperatures.
While Norris has had a competitive teammate in Australian Oscar Piastri, and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have been evenly matched, Red Bull have relied on Verstappen while Mexican Sergio Perez has struggled.
Norris recognized there were pros and cons in that for Verstappen.
Formula One F1 – Las Vegas Grand Prix – Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States – November 23, 2024 Red Bull’s Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the 2024 F1 world championship title REUTERS/Mike Blake
“He has to do all of his work on his own, which is hats off to him,” he said. “He doesn’t have someone who is pushing him. He doesn’t have someone who’s trying other things with the car.
“The data’s not as valuable when you don’t have someone who’s performing at the same level.
“There’s a lot of things that Max can do that are phenomenal. Driving at the level he does consistently without a team mate that can push him in any way certainly makes his life harder,” added the Briton.
“But at the same time there’s no pressure. He doesn’t have to deal with trying to beat anyone in his own team. That comes with some comfort.”