Norris was not ready for fight with Verstappen: 'Best F1 driver ever'

"That I have what it takes (to become world champion)", Norris said when asked what he learned from the title battle with Max Verstappen. "I think it's the first time in the last six years of Formula One when we've had a chance to fight at the front. So this is our and my first opportunity to do so. My first opportunity to see where I stand. And I definitely was not at the level I needed to be at at the beginning of the year and probably even Miami point of the season."

"Since the summer break, I feel like I've done a very good job and performed very, very well. I've been very happy actually with how the last few months have gone honestly. I wouldn't change many things that have happened, but I still need to make tweaks. But for the first time I'm confident to say that I have what I think I need to fight for a championship.

"Doesn't mean I'm complete, doesn't mean I'm perfect, that's for sure, and when you're competing against drivers who are close to that like Max, you have to be close to perfect if you want to challenge him and challenge the teams [that] were around."

Norris was not ready for battle with Verstappen

2024 was a completely new experience for Norris. McLaren started as the third or fourth fastest car on the grid but has been the strongest team since Miami. Still, according to Norris, it was too much of a challenge to overtake Verstappen because, in his eyes, McLaren was never as dominant as Red Bull at the start of the season.

Once McLaren was able to compete for wins, Norris did not yet feel he was on the same level as Verstappen. "I probably wasn’t outright ready to go up against Red Bull and Max. I think I am now, and it's probably too late to do that. Maybe there are other drivers in the past that were ready for such an occasion. But no one has gone up against Max so early on in their career, halfway through the season, and put up, I think, a pretty reasonable fight," he continued.

"I've done my best. I've not done well enough, I've always admitted that. I think Max is probably one of the best drivers ever in Formula 1. I don't think you'll probably get a much better driver than Max ever in Formula 1 ever again. That's my opinion. And for me to go up against that belief, to fight against that person that I know is so good, takes a bit more than what I probably achieved this season. But I think what I've done since the summer break is closer to what I need to be. And I think that is close to being good enough to fighting for it next year."

This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton