Norris does not rule Verstappen out of the F1 title fight | RACER

Lando Norris says Max Verstappen will be a threat at every race between now and the end of the season and will not rule him out of contention for the championship.

Verstappen produced a stunning recovery drive from the pit lane to finish on the podium in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, but with Norris winning the gap between the two has grown to 49 points, with a maximum of 83 still available. Given the form Verstappen showed at Interlagos on Sunday, Norris believes the defending champion will fight for victory at every venue.

“I’m sure he’s going to be a threat in terms of races, and you never know with the championship,” said Norris. “So it’s pointless to guess and imagine these things. But how fast he was.” [in Interlagos] – he probably would have won if he had started higher.

“But that’s racing. Not everyone puts it together, and it’s easy to make mistakes in the world we live in. We maximized ourselves this weekend, and that’s all we have to do. He’ll be a threat, he always is. He’s always there, he’s always fighting, and I’m sure he’ll fight until the end. So I’m looking forward to it.”

If he is to remain in contention for the title heading into the penultimate round in Qatar, Verstappen will need to ensure he does not lose more than eight points to Norris in Las Vegas, but the championship leader is not predicting a strong weekend for McLaren in Nevada.

“[Cooler temperatures] hinder, for sure. I think this was our worst race last year. So I’m not really looking forward to it. We’ve worked hard to improve those things. We know that Mercedes was incredibly strong there last year, as were Red Bull and Ferraris. I think we were the bottom of those four.

“Obviously we’ve improved a lot of things this year, so I’m not going to be too negative about it. I think there’s plenty to look forward to. We know that Abu Dhabi and Qatar are the ones we’re looking forward to. Las Vegas slightly less so, because that was probably one of our weakest races in the last two years. So let’s wait and see.”