"There will be a day you'll become world champion": When Max Verstappen shared a moment with Lando Norris after beating him for title

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen previously mentioned to his friend and McLaren driver Lando Norris that the latter will become world champion in the future. The two drivers were involved in a tense championship battle last year which saw Norris putting pressure on the Dutchman in the second half of the 2024 season.

The British team finally mastered the regulations in the second half of the 2024 season and was arguably the fastest on the grid. With Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, they were able to fight for wins more consistently.

McLaren's jump in form coincided with Red Bull falling down in the pecking order as they struggled to get on top of its balance issues. At one point of the season, the Austrian team and Max Verstappen went winless for 11 races.

A P5 finish at the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix was enough for Verstappen to seal his fourth consecutive driver's title. In the media pen, Lando Norris congratulated his friend and cheekily told the Red Bull driver:

"You're too fast! Next year I'll win."

The 27-year-old recognized the McLaren driver's talent and replied:

"I told you many times, there will be a day you'll become world champion."

Norris replied:

"Let's celebrate in Abu Dhabi."

The Dutchman concluded the conversation by confirming the celebrations.

At the season finale in Abu Dhabi, both drivers had reasons to celebrate given Lando Norris won the race and led the Woking-based outfit to its first Constructors Championship in 25 years while Verstappen concluded the title with a gap of 63 points over the former.

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Lando Norris points out the learnings from his title battle against Max Verstappen

McLaren driver Lando Norris stated that he learned that racing against Max Verstappen was a "unique situation "and admitted that he was not up to the latter's level last year.

As per Motorsport.com, the Brit reflected on his learnings and said:

"I clearly wasn't quite ready to deliver on everything that they needed me to deliver on from a racing point of view. And that's just because racing against Max is a unique situation and you don't get to experience it in any other way of life until you really get to that point.

"And I think had it been a battle against different drivers, it probably wouldn't have been as hard. And I think that's probably a fair assessment because I do think Max will be the hardest guy to race against. So I learned that aspect of Max and I also learned where I stood in that situation, which was not at the right level."

Lando Norris has made a positive start to the 2025 season and holds an eight-point advantage over Max Verstappen and even held off the challenge from the latter in tricky conditions in Melbourne to win the season opener.