"Making mistakes and crashing" duo of Max Verstappen and Red Bull gives Lando Norris hope in the 2024 F1 title battle

Lando Norris feels emboldened that the title battle for the 2024 F1 season is still on as Max Verstappen and Red Bull continue to make mistakes and have crashes. The season started for the Austrian team and the Dutch driver on a positive note. Max had won the first two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in a dominant fashion.

McLaren's upgrade in Miami has, however, turned everything on its head. Red Bull has lost its hold at the front as the best team on the grid. So much so that both Ferrari and Mercedes have also won two races each. Even in the last race, Max Verstappen made an error while trying to overtake Lewis Hamilton and hence compromised his result.

Before that, the race in Austria saw Lando Norris and Verstappen coming together as well for a crash that led to a 10-second penalty for the Red Bull driver. You add all this up and you see that a few mistakes are starting to creep in.

Despite all that, there's a 76-point lead that Max Verstappen enjoys over Lando Norris with 11 races left. The McLaren driver is, however, not giving up on the title yet. He told media, including RacingNews365:

"You would be silly to say no. But don't get me wrong, I know it's like 70, 80 points that I've got to catch up. So I know a lot of people are going to say that there's no chance, but we're going to keep fighting and I'm going to give myself the best opportunity to do so."

He added:

"You know, especially when you see Max and Red Bull not performing so well, making mistakes, and crashing, you want to make the most of those opportunities and plenty more can happen in the future. So, yes, I think it's still on. I know it's a big stretch and optimistic like I said before, but I'm not going to say no to the challenge and definitely, as a team, we won't."

Max Verstappen concedes Lando Norris title threat is real

According to Will Buxton, in conversation with F1TV, Max Verstappen has revealed that the threat of Lando Norris for the title is real and he takes it very seriously. The one thing to note here is that for the first time since 2021, Max has not won a race in a stretch of three events.

Talking about his conversation with Verstappen, Will Buxton posted on social media:

"Just finished a fascinating chat with Max Verstappen you’ll be able to see on F1TV’s Belgian GP pre race show. Perhaps most telling is that despite the doubts some might have, Max himself is adamant Lando can win the world championship. Sees the threat as very, very real."

A lot of things will become clear as the race weekend in Spa continues. If Lando Norris once again closes the gap to the front, then it could lead to an increase in pressure at Red Bull.