Max Verstappen is known for being a difficult driver to race against on track, having demonstrated his ruthless attitude towards Lando Norris in 2024.
The McLaren driver and Verstappen first came to blows during the Austrian Grand Prix, after the two title rivals were fighting for the lead of the race. Norris made a move around the outside at Turn 4, but Verstappen collided while trying to defend his line.
Norris would later have to avoid Verstappen by going off track in Austin, after attempting an overtake at Turn 12. The stewards would later come down hard on Verstappen when he forced Norris off track twice in Mexico, resulting in two time penalties that amounted to 20 seconds.
Zak Brown has stated his drivers will race Verstappen differently in 2025 after the Dutchman also collided with Oscar Piastri at the start of the Abu Dhabi GP and jeopardised their Constructors’ title chances.
Now the McLaren CEO has explained how his drivers will be dealing with Verstappen in more detail this year when speaking to The Intercooler podcast, with Norris having learned from his mistakes last year.
Lando Norris was ‘learning’ how to fight Max Verstappen in 2024
Norris would often make a lot of unforced errors last year, which led to him losing out a lot of points in the title battle at critical moments.
At the midway point last year, Norris had lost a total of 71 points based on potential places he could have finished had he or McLaren not made unforced errors. Brown explains how Norris will be learning from Lewis Hamilton, who went up against the Dutchman in 2021, and is changing his approach for 2025.
“Max is as brutal as you get. Lando was at the front of the field more after his race win in Miami, so there is more instances of wheel-to-wheel combat. He had to learn how Max races. Back when I was racing, you come up on someone, and you know how they race. So I don’t think he was in his head; I think it was more how Max goes racing,” said Brown.
“It’s the same with what Lewis went through. I don’t think Max got into Lewis’s head, but they had elbows out, and eventually, Lewis said, ‘Well, that’s how we’re going to race’ and here comes Silverstone. So I think that was more Lando trying to learn how Max is going to race so he can work on his racecraft against Max.”
Lando Norris told he needs to ‘start focusing’ on winning in 2025
Norris has been tipped to win the 2025 title by Nico Rosberg, while Martin Brundle has also backed the Briton after his performance in the Abu Dhabi season finale.
The four-time race winner will have his work cut out if he wants to take his first championship, given how difficult it can be to race against Verstappen.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration
Mario Andretti believes Norris must ‘start focusing’ early on winning in 2025, if he stands any chance of taking his first title.
Verstappen has already warned Norris that he doesn’t feel he has any weaknesses going into this season, even if Red Bull’s car is not as competitive as they expect.
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