Norris refutes Verstappen's McLaren claim: 'He should start doing comedy'

Lando Norris has suggested Max Verstappen “should start doing comedy” after the newly crowned world champion said he would have won the title earlier in a McLaren.

Verstappen secured his fourth drivers’ championship in a row in Las Vegas last weekend, and when interviewed afterwards he said he thought he would have won the title even earlier in a McLaren this season, and similarly so in a Ferrari. However, Norris gave the idea short shrift when the comments were put to him ahead of this weekend's Qatar Grand Prix, where McLaren can win the constructors’ title.

“He should start doing comedy or something,” Norris said. “He can say whatever he wants. Of course, I completely disagree, as I would. He’s good, but, yeah, it’s not true.”

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Despite disputing Verstappen’s claim, Norris said the fact that Sergio Perez hasn’t ever seriously challenged him doesn’t necessarily help the Dutchman’s chances.

“There’s pros and cons," he said. "He has to do all his work on his own, which is hats off to him. He doesn’t have someone who’s pushing him; he doesn’t have someone who’s trying other things with the car and you can’t do A to B tests and things like that, because the data’s not as valuable when you don’t have someone who is performing at the same level.

“So there’s a lot of things that Max can do that are phenomenal. Driving at the level he does consistently without a teammate that can push him in any way certainly makes his life harder from that perspective. Also from a team perspective.

“But at the same time, there is no pressure -- he doesn’t have to deal with trying to beat someone in his own team and that comes with some comfort. But they go together and in some ways I like having a bit of pressure because it makes me do a better job. I’m sure he’s going to say he doesn’t care, whoever his teammate is he’s not going to mind. There’s pros and cons of having a strong teammate and I hope at some point he has one that can challenge him a bit more.”

Norris believes Red Bull would have done the championship double if Perez was able to perform closer to Verstappen’s level, rather than opening the door for McLaren to be favorite with two races to go.

“Red Bull probably would have won the constructors’ if they had two drivers as good as Max, that’s for sure," he said. "That’s clear. That’s obvious. It shows that as a team they’ve still probably done the best job.

“Max has proved with everybody that he’s gone up against, he’s beaten. That’s tough for any teammate. It’s got nothing to do with me. I don’t care. He can have any teammate he wants.”