Norris Admits Verstappen Is Now A 'Genuine' Contender For F1 Championship

Lando Norris has admitted that Max Verstappen is now a “genuine” contender for the Formula One world championship.

However, the Brit stressed that McLaren will not need to designate team-mate Oscar Piastri as their clear number one. 

Verstappen’s back-to-back wins have put him 69 points behind Piastri and 44 behind Norris ahead of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, with 199 points still up for grabs over the remaining seven races.

Piastri, meanwhile, crashed out in Azerbaijan while Norris finished seventh.

"He is genuinely a challenger," Norris said of four-time world champion Verstappen.

"If you go back to the beginning of the season, [Red Bull] were challenging us for the first six or seven races for wins, then we brought some upgrades and improved a little bit. But then they brought a couple of upgrades and that has put them on the same level.

"We are still expecting to dominate and we come to these races with the goal and ambition of winning and wanting to dominate and continue the form we have shown all season."

"But in Baku we had the car to win and we didn't. We had the chance to fight Max. At the round before in Monza they were too quick for us. I expect them to be quick for many of the races this season."

Norris trails Piastri by 25 points, with McLaren looking to secure their first drivers' title since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.

"We will go to Las Vegas and other low-downforce tracks where we don't expect to be as great as we have been," added Norris.

"So that is an opportunity for Red Bull, but we are just focusing on ourselves and maximising our performances."