Lando Norris refutes Toto Wolff's claims of Max Verstappen being favored in car design at Red Bull

Lando Norris has snapped back on Toto Wolff's claims that Red Bull favors Max Verstappen during car design. The last few seasons have seen Verstappen utterly dominate his teammates, one by one. Even in the current season, the gap between Max and his teammate Sergio Perez is huge.

Max Verstappen has almost twice as many points as his teammate (400 to 223), and this has led to many questioning the gap between the two drivers. There have even been suggestions in the media that the car is designed around Verstappen's liking, and hence his teammates are unable to keep up.

These claims were even made by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who felt that the car is designed around one driver and hence the gap is so big.

Compatriot and McLaren driver Lando Norris is at odds with such a claim. Norris felt that the team's responsibility was only to give the fastest possible car, and then it was the driver's job to make it work.

Norris exclusively told RacingNews365.com:

“It’s not down to the team to just make a car design for a person. Maybe that's a perfect world. It’s our job to deliver no matter what the car is. Max said something very similar the other day after Toto made the comment about the Red Bull. I don't think you can just design a car for someone. It just doesn't work like that. It's very much down to the driver to drive the car they’re given."

He added:

“I think this way, if I end up being slower than my teammates because of whatever reason, then I'm not doing a good enough job. It’s as simple as that. It's the driver's job. That's why we're here. For me, the most important thing is to make a quick car."

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"It's our job to drive the car": Lando Norris on Max Verstappen favoritism claims

Pushing back at the claims made about Max Verstappen being favored in terms of car design, Lando Norris said that it is an ideal scenario where the car matches your style. More often than not, this does not happen.

Drivers are paid a lot of money to do their job, and it is up to them to make the most of the situation and extract the best from the car.

He said:

“I think what people fail to understand sometimes from the outside is that a driver's job is to drive whatever car they are given as quickly as possible. Yes, you want the car to be nice to you and suit you."

He added:

"But drivers get they get paid enough money to make the best of every circumstance. Whether it's a car they like, they don't like is tricky, is safe, whatever it is. It's our job to go and just drive what the team give us."

Lando Norris' pushback over claims about Max Verstappen being favored does hold merit. At the same time, it can't be denied that the lead driver does get a few privileges that the second driver won't, and that would include input on car design.