Lando Norris says it would not have been a smart move for Max Verstappen to join Mercedes after Toto Wolff attempted to sign the Red Bull man as a youngster. If the Dutchman had joined the Silver Arrows it is feasible he may have gone on to become Lewis Hamilton’s team-mate.
Verstappen may not have been able to break through as the main man and go on to win three world titles. Norris is plotting his own path to a Drivers’ Championship trophy and he is confident that he can achieve it with McLaren.
“I believe I can achieve a championship at McLaren, that’s why I signed another contract,” Norris told the Guardian. “I absolutely think I can go up against Max and give him a good challenge. But I also rate Max, so for anyone it’s extremely difficult to go up against Max in his team and challenge him for a world championship.
“He could have moved to Mercedes back in the day and gone up against Lewis [Hamilton] but would it have been a smart idea to have done that? Probably not and he probably wouldn’t be in a Red Bull now and it would be a different story.
“I am not afraid in any way of Max, I’m excited to be against Max. People rate him as up with the best, so I would like to prove myself by going up against that. I look forward to being able to battle him, but genuinely for position and not have him half a second a lap quicker and just drive past me.”
Norris, 24, has yet to win an F1 race but there is the potential for a complete shake-up of the grid when new regulations are introduced in 2026. The Brit signed a long-term contract extension in January, keeping him with McLaren beyond the new regulations.
Norris has been in decent form this year and will start the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday in third place, behind the pair of Red Bulls. Verstappen complained that he felt his race pace was not there this weekend, but Norris scoffed in reply.
“They [Red Bull] complain about their race pace, but I don’t think they’ve had a bad race in the last four, five years! So they’re going to be good tomorrow,” he said.
“Of course, we’ve got a lot of pressure from behind, we have to keep an eye on the mirrors. But at the same time, I want to go forward, and we have the pace to stay where we are. That’s my goal.”
