Lando Norris claims the Max Verstappen-Red Bull combo not maximizing results even when they have a quick car

Lando Norris has claimed that the Max Verstappen-Red Bull combo is not maximizing the results even when they have a quick car under them. The 2024 F1 season started just like the 2023 ended, as the combination of the Dutch driver and the Austrian team started dominating.

Max Verstappen comfortably won four of the first five races, and it did appear that the season was going to be a replica of 2023. The McLaren upgrade however changed a lot of things. Red Bull was caught in terms of performance in the subsequent months and has since fallen back as well.

The Austrian team has struggled to put upgrades on the car that definitively work, and that has given Lando Norris an outside chance of hunting down Verstappen in the championship as well. The McLaren driver has been systematically cutting down the gap to the top in the last three races. He does however feel that his rivals are maximizing their results.

Talking to Sky Sports, Norris pointed out how Sergio Perez was in the fight for the lead in Baku, which showed that the car was certainly good enough. Verstappen, however, had a disastrous race where he couldn't do much and even finished behind his title rival. Norris said,

“Checo [Perez] was very quick last weekend. Maybe, if not, one of the quickest cars the whole weekend, including the race. So I think they’re not maximising their results even when they do have quite a quick car, which was last weekend.”

Lando Norris against dismissing Max Verstappen's team and their potential for recovery

Lando Norris didn't agree with the fact that Red Bull should just be counted out now and the team has no potential. Pointing at how Perez was one of the fastest in Baku, if not the fastest, Norris refused to concede that the Austrian team would not be a factor at the front of the field for the rest of the season. He said,

“We’re in with a good fight [with] Ferrari and Mercedes at the same time. I think Mercedes were very quick. Ferrari seem like more consistently the top team at the minute, apart from us. So it’s exciting, it’s a close battle. But I don’t think anyone should dismiss Red Bull."

He added,

"I think they were still probably quicker than us last weekend when you look at things. It means we still have to work hard, we have to improve. But consistently we are out-scoring them and that’s why we have to accept maybe not a perfect weekend sometimes, but maximize those weekends when we can get everything right.”

Lando Norris has now cut down the championship deficit to Max Verstappen to 59 points. The driver will be hoping to reduce the gap further this weekend, as Red Bull could potentially struggle in Singapore.