Lando Norris bites back at Max Verstappen’s ‘nonsense’ F1 title jab

Lando Norris has accused F1 title rival Max Verstappen of “talking nonsense” about this year’s world championship battle.

In an interview with F1.com ahead of this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix, Verstappen claimed he would have “easily” won this year’s world title already if his Red Bull had been as competitive as Norris’s McLaren.

"If we would have been in the position of how dominant of a car they [McLaren] had, let’s say like that, the championship would have been over a long time ago,” Verstappen stated.

Verstappen has impressively remained in the title race after being 104 points adrift following the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August, however his slim title hopes are now hanging in the balance.

Norris fiercely responded to Verstappen’s comments after finishing third in the Qatar sprint race to extend his buffer to the four-time world champion to 25 points with just two grands prix remaining in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

“This is Red Bull’s way of going about things - this aggressive nature, just talking nonsense a lot of the time,” Norris hit back.

“So, it depends if you want to listen to it and talk about it, like you love to, or you do what we do as a team, which is just keep our heads down, keep focused.

“Maybe he would have done, but he hasn’t so far and he keeps trying.”

Norris did go on to add: “Max can say whatever he wants to be honest. He’s kind of earned the right, he’s won four world championships, I’ve a lot of respect and I think that that gives anyone a lot of credit.

“He’s achieved an incredible amount, more than anyone generally dreams of achieving, so Max generally has a good clue about a lot of things, but there’s also a lot of things he doesn’t have much of a clue about.”

Norris can seal his maiden world championship in Qatar this weekend.

To do so, the Briton would need to outscore McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri by four points in Sunday’s grand prix.

Verstappen will be eliminated from title contention if he is again beaten by Norris in Qatar.

If Norris is outscored by either one of his title rivals on Sunday, the battle will go down to the wire in the Abu Dhabi finale.