Max Verstappen has backed his own assessment of Lando Norris’ Formula 1 title credentials that he rendered 12 months ago.
Last year, the Red Bull driver cruised to a fourth consecutive F1 title as he crushed Norris’ late championship charge with a fifth-placed finish at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.
Speaking to the media afterwards, the 28-year-old had revealed his words of consolation to the McLaren driver.
“I told him ‘Your time will come one day’. Be patient. Even at McLaren when it was not going that well, I said ‘I know you are capable of winning titles’,” he had said.
12 months on, the roles have reversed with Norris a firm favorite to wrap his maiden title up at Qatar this weekend with Verstappen now hunting the Briton down.
Verstappen has staged a monumental comeback since the summer break. After the Dutch GP, his gap to the then championship leader Oscar Piastri was a mammoth 104 points.
But wins at Monza, Baku, Austin and Vegas since have seen the four-time F1 Champion keep himself in title contention.
The double DSQ that McLaren endured at Vegas, last weekend, sees Verstappen now close the gap to Norris in the drivers’ standings to just 24 points with a Sprint Race and two Grands Prix still to play for.
That said, Norris only needs to outscore the Dutchman and his team-mate Piastri by a single point, at the Lusail International Circuit, to bag the title with one race to spare.
Verstappen believes that a “different” Norris has done a commendable job stitching together a flurry of performances to retain his lead.
“Lately, I think, the weekends seem to be really coming together very nicely. So yeah, in that sense, definitely a bit different,” he told media including Motorsport Week when asked if he has seen a change in the Briton this season.
“But I mean, every year you also grow from past mistakes, or weekends where you think you could have done a better job.
“That goes for everyone, it’s not particularly Lando in this case.”
Verstappen praises ‘patient’ Norris turnaround
The McLaren driver’s title charge, last season, was littered with error-prone race weekends.
With the MCL38 coming into its own only from the Miami GP onwards, Norris was always playing catch up with an ailing RB20 but a staunch Verstappen.
This year, however, with a competitive package right from the start of the season, the Briton has been able to build himself a credible lead over the defending champion and Piastri.
Verstappen explained how his prediction from last year has come true, with him seeing a more rounded driver in Norris.
“What I said last year, I meant, simple as that,” asserted the 28-year-old.
“I mean, there’s nothing that I lied about, it’s quite clear this season, so sometimes, you just need to be a bit patient and wait for your moment.”
In the past, Norris has been pretty forthcoming about his own shortcomings. He expanded on Verstappen’s analogy to detail two essential areas that he feels he has exceled at this season to elevate himself into the lead of the championship.
“Two reasons I’ve done well is, one, I’ve done better jobs, so I’m performing better more often,” Norris examined.
“Two, I’m more positive and less negative about when I have bad days and bad sessions, and believe in myself a bit more that I can turn it around.”
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