Max Verstappen backs Lando Norris as a championship-level fighter: "I never doubted that anyway"

Max Verstappen has come out in support of Lando Norris and claimed he is performing at the level of a world champion. The 2024 F1 season has seen McLaren make major strides, with the team and car now turning into frontrunners, as they have been right at the sharp end of the grid every weekend.

Despite that, Lando Norris has been able to win just once this season, and even in that race, he was lucky with safety car timing. The driver has made a few mistakes, and bad starts have cost him multiple race wins as well.

Losing multiple wins and potential point-scoring opportunities meant that Lando Norris himself acknowledged that he wasn't performing at the level of a world champion. Since those comments, McLaren boss Andreas Seidl has come out in support of the driver and backed the 24-year-old.

Max Verstappen was also questioned about the same by the media during the Dutch GP post-qualifying press conference, to which the Dutch said that he never doubted Lando's ability and lauded him for being a 'very fast' driver. Verstappen said,

"Lando is very, very fast. I think that's what you need to be. And that's why he's also in Formula 1, and that's why he's performing at the level that he's at. And it will only get better with experience as well, right? I mean, of course, I've been fighting for championships probably a bit longer, so you're probably a bit more experienced with that," Verstappen said.

"But at the end of the day, when the team is working well, the car is working well, you're driving well, then it just comes to you as well. So, yeah, I never doubted that anyway," he added.

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Max Verstappen jokes about doing Yoga and meditation as his secret to keeping calm

Max Verstappen also joked about how he had been doing a lot of yoga and meditation to keep calm during race weekends. The driver has been noticeably calmer on the team radio this weekend compared to how he has been in the past, especially in races like Hungary.

Max was questioned on the secret behind the change in demeanor, to which he said that it came down to focusing on the more important things and trying to extract the best possible result from the car. He said,

"I do a lot of yoga and meditation lately (laughs). Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I think Hungary was just a very frustrating weekend in general, but it doesn't always need to be like that. And I know that also. So I'm just trying as hard as I can, you know, to be competitive. I know the team does that as well, every single person within the team. So we, yeah, we stick together and try to improve the situation," Verstappen said.

Max Verstappen has not won a race since the win in Barcelona and will look to add another win to his tally in what will be his 200th race in F1.