Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes the friendship between Max Verstappen Lando Norris could be “under pressure” in Formula 1 in 2025.
2024 was undoubtedly the year in which Norris came of age, finally taking his first Grand Prix win and put himself into serious World Championship contention up against Verstappen, who ultimately went on to secure his fourth straight Drivers’ crown.
However, with the closeness on-track between the pair, their off-track closeness may well have been tested at times.
After coming together in the final laps of the Austrian Grand Prix, the pair continued to show needle between each-other, with another notable incident in Austin, where Norris was penalised for overtaking the Red Bull from beyond the track limit, with Verstappen having also left the track.
After the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which Norris won to help secure the Constructors’ Championship for McLaren, the Brit said that the Mexico City Grand Prix, in which the pair got close again, was “a turning point” in understanding Verstappen’s mentality as a driver.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Horner said: “Max has other friendships in F1, Lando Norris is a good pal of his.
“They’ve traveled to many races, but inevitably, that gets put under pressure when you’re competing.
“Is [heavyweight boxer] Tyson Fury going to be mates with his opponent? Maybe after the fight but certainly not in the build up to it.”
Verstappen blasts ‘proper idiots’ on social media
Amid the speculation around the pair’s blossoming rivalry, Verstappen was quick to lambast any such notion.
Speaking on the team’s Talking Bull podcast, Verstappen said that he and Norris have continued their friendship despite their fraught on-track battles, and was quick to point the finger at people on social media for causing a frenzy.
“People always make it really like a lot worse on social media,” he said.
“There are a lot of idiots on that platform that always have something to say, something to complain about. There was a lot of positive people, but also some proper idiots.
“I think it’s better just to ignore all of that. But Lando and I, we get on very well.
“Of course, at times it got a bit tense on track, but off track, that shouldn’t matter. We always try to do the best we can on track to get the best possible result.
“You are fighting for a World Championship, so I think it’s normal that these kind of things can happen, but we’re good.”
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