Max Verstappen has officially won his battle with Lando Norris. Verstappen was crowned champion at the Las Vegas Grand Prix after finishing fifth, one place ahead of Norris.
That increased his advantage to 63 points, with only 60 more on offer. It was clear after the Sao Paulo GP, where Verstappen mounted a career-highlight charge from 17th to first and Norris slipped from pole to sixth, that it was only a matter of time.
Publicly, it seems Verstappen and Norris remain on good terms. It’s unclear whether relations have suffered in private.
One journalist says Norris’ friendship with Verstappen has taken a ‘battering’ in recent months. Some would argue they shouldn’t be so close anyway when they’re competing for F1 glory.
Verstappen has picked up three penalties for incidents with Norris this year. The first of those came in Austria, where he collided with the McLaren (puncturing his own tyre and dealing terminal damage to his rival) in defence of the lead.
More recently, he received two 10-second sanctions for running him off the road twice in five corners at the Mexico City GP. That prompted Norris to call Verstappen ‘dangerous’ over the radio.
Max Verstappen’s ‘time will come’ message to Lando Norris shows he’s ‘very pure’
Norris, for his part, took a penalty in the United States for leaving the track and gaining an advantage in his scrap with Verstappen. F1 drivers were split on Norris’ penalty in their subsequent briefing.
But it’s the Red Bull driver who has been widely criticised for what some see as an overly aggressive driving style. Even though Martin Brundle called Verstappen’s driving ‘ridiculous’ in Mexico, he was unrepentant.
Going back further, many F1 fans have been hostile to Verstappen since 2021, when he snatched the title from Lewis Hamilton at a bitterly controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. But speaking to RacingNews365, former F1 driver Jan Lammers defended his fellow countryman.
In a post-race press conference in Vegas, Verstappen hailed Norris as an ‘incredible’ talent. He’s privately told the Briton that his ‘time will come’ (via Motorsport Week).
“When you see how he tells Lando Norris that his time will come and that he will definitely win more titles, it proves what a good guy he actually is,” Lammers said. “He doesn’t have to do that, but he has empathy. I’ve said it before, but I think Max is just very pure.”
The footage that holds the key to Lando Norris beating Max Verstappen in 2025
Jolyon Palmer wants Verstappen to be fairer in wheel-to-wheel combat next year. But until his approach stops working – in other words, the penalties become too severe – he has no reason to change.
Verstappen’s hardline tactics have delivered him four world titles, two in closely competitive seasons. Norris can therefore expect to encounter them again.
If they go head-to-head for next year’s championship, he needs to find a way to neutralise them. Jenson Button has told Norris to study the footage from their battles this year over the winter and work out what he must do differently.
Perhaps he can take some inspiration from Charles Leclerc. Ferrari driver Leclerc ‘loves’ racing Verstappen because he’s able to anticipate what he’s going to do.
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