“I‘m not afraid of Max Verstappen” - Lando Norris on why he wants to compete against the F1 champion rather than drive in the same team

Lando Norris aims to battle Max Verstappen with McLaren as he finds it more challenging than being with him in the same team.

Verstappen has dominated the grid since 2022 and continues to do so. Although Ferrari has come close to challenging them, the Austrian team's success has been unstoppable. Amidst all this, Norris has emerged with an improved McLaren. The second half of the 2023 season saw them competing with the top teams and their upgrade packages only made them stronger.

With this team, Lando Norris aims to win the world championship despite Max Verstappen's dominance. He told The Guardian:

"I believe I can achieve a championship at McLaren, that’s why I signed another contract. I absolutely think I can go up against Max and give him a good challenge. But I also rate Max, so for anyone it’s extremely difficult to go up against Max in his team and challenge him for a world championship."

He also reflected on his fierce attitude towards battling one of his closest friends on the grid. The McLaren driver also mentioned that he would want to battle Verstappen for positions and interrupt his dominance.

"I am not afraid in any way of Max, I’m excited to be against Max. People rate him as up with the best, so I would like to prove myself by going up against that. I look forward to being able to battle him, but genuinely for position and not have him half a second a lap quicker and just drive past me," Norris added.

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Max Verstappen not satisfied with race data in Japan as McLaren and Ferrari bring in competition

The three-time world champion put himself up in pole position at the end of a tight qualifying session at Suzuka for the 2024 F1 Japanese Grand Prix. Lando Norris' McLaren separated the two Red Bulls at the top from Australian GP winner Carlos Sainz in P4, showing the team's promising pace on the track.

While Max Verstappen was seemingly dominant on the track, he was not satisfied with the data for a long-run on the track. Speaking to the media ahead of the session, he revealed that Ferrari looked 'quite competitive'.

"But it’s quite obvious that then in the long run they seem quite competitive. So, yeah, I mean, we’ll see tomorrow, of course, why that is or if it actually is the case like that," he said.

Looking at the rest of the competition, he revealed his dissatisfaction.

"I’m just not very happy with myself, you know, with how my long run was," he said. "So then, actually, of course, everyone else looks a bit better."

Max Verstappen did not finish a race for the first time in two complete seasons in Australia earlier. Although he still leads the world championship, Charles Leclerc is only four points shy of him in the standings.