Norris looks forward to duel with Verstappen: 'Not raced against him often'

F1 News

norris and verstappen look forward to their battle in spain
23 June at 07:30
2
  • Ludo van Denderen

Not for the first time this season, a great battle between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen looks set to take place in a Grand Prix. The McLaren and Red Bull Racing drivers started from the front row of the grid this Sunday, so all the ingredients are in place for an exciting race. One that the two are very much looking forward to.

An exciting fight? "I hope I can have just a good start and kind of control it from there," said Norris. "I'm going to be under pressure and I'm going to have to make those kinds of calls. But, I look forward to it. I look forward to racing against anyone and probably Max is the guy on the track that I've raced the least just because he's always been too far ahead."

Norris will start from pole, but in Barcelona, with the long run-up, there is certainly no guarantee of going into the corner first. "Whether I'm first or second tomorrow coming out of Turn 1, it's going to be a fight till pretty much the end of the race. So I'm excited. I look forward to it. I've not had many opportunities to do so. When I have, it's normally been about a second lap quicker. Yeah. But that's not the case anymore. I'm excited just to race against him and have some fun."

Verstappen still has a lot of question marks

Verstappen is also looking forward to a nice fight. "I would like to win tomorrow, naturally," the Dutchman commented. "I think it's still a bit unknown where we are in terms of pure pace in the long run. I'm hoping, of course, it's going to be all very close like it has been in the last few races.

And I think with the high deg around here as well, you need to really look after your tyres. I don't know, of course, in what state the track will be as well tomorrow with potential rain, of course, overnight and in the morning. So all these kinds of things, of course, come into play," Verstappen concluded.