Norris disagrees with Verstappen: 'In a McLaren, no, definitely not'
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Max Verstappen believes he could have become a champion earlier these season with a McLaren, he even told Zak Brown on Sky Sports following the Las Vegas GP. However, Lando Norris disagrees with that view. The Briton believes the team simply lost too many points during the first part of the season, and the Dutchman would not have been able to complete a comeback either.
According to Norris, if Verstappen would have driven the MCL38, he wouldn't be the 2024 world champion. "No, definitely not," the Briton told The Telegraph. "No one ever in the history of Formula One has come back from the size of deficit I had. No one. Ever. And there have been much bigger swings of performance of cars in the past than there has been now. The advantage they [Red Bull] had in the beginning of the season over everyone was way more than we’ve had."
Verstappen and Red Bull duo too strong
After the British Grand Prix, the gap between the two drivers stood at 84 points. The Briton perhaps could have still got more out of the current season. In Hungary, a poor start cost him the win, and in Monza, he was overtaken by Oscar Piastri during the first lap. He also finished behind Verstappen at COTA, and made mistakes on the restarts in Brazil.
Norris acknowledges that he could have scored more points, but thinks the gap was already too big, especially given who were their rivals in this championship battle. "I think if it was any other driver, well not any other driver, but if it wasn’t Max and Red Bull, I think the chances [of winning the title] would have been much higher."
Norris sums up his season
The current number two in the drivers' standings first says his season was "pretty damn good," but changed his mind a little bit. "I’m trying to come up with a word that’s good but not quite good enough. Like, not perfect, but OK," he explained. After the Las Vegas GP however, it is all but secured that Norris will finish second in the standings. Currently, Charles Leclerc is 21 points behind the McLaren driver as the two will also continue their fight for the constructors' title driving for McLaren and Ferrari respectively.
This article was written in collaboration with Corwin Kunst