Hamilton's verdict: Is Norris capable of defeating Verstappen?
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Lando Norris won the Dutch Grand Prix quite confindently ahead of Max Verstappen. The gap between the two was more than 20 seconds, and McLaren's latest upgrade package also seemed to improve their car following the summer break. Could Norris chase down Verstappen in the drivers' standings? The Dutchman's 2021 rival, Lewis Hamilton gave his opinion on the matter in Monza.
Verstappen's lead ahead of Lando Norris currently stands at 70 points, with nine Grands Prix remaining in the current season. Seven-time champion Hamilton would not count out Norris just yet. "I mean, there's a lot of points on the table, so I think it's definitely..., it's not impossible. I think, ultimately, Max probably only needs to finish second every race to win at this point, and he would have to win every single race, and that still wouldn't be enough, so then there'll need to be some fortune in it, I do think," the Briton began thinking out loud.
Hamilton continued about the prospect of McLaren also winning the constructors' standings. "And what's really exciting is I think there's a real chance that McLaren could win the constructors title. I think that's really, really exciting, because obviously I was there [at McLaren] when we did win the last constructors. Obviously, it got taken away from us, but we won it in terms of performance that year, and I don't think there has been one since," he added. McLaren are currently 30 points behind Red Bull Racing in that championship.
Hamilton wants exciting battle
The Briton would himself prefer a close battle until the end of the season. "So I think that could be really exciting, I think not only for them, but also for the sport. I hope that it goes down to the wire because I think that would be great for the fans. But with their performance they showed last weekend, maybe they could," Hamilton concluded.