MAX VERSTAPPEN says he could “easily” have already won the title if he had Lando Norris’ car.
The four-time world champion cranked up the mind games by saying the “pressure is on” for the McLaren driver who could win his first ever world title this weekend.
Max Verstappen has taken a swipe at Lando Norris
Verstappen was a whopping 104 points off the championship lead in September but he heads into the final two rounds just 24 points adrift of Norris.
McLaren already wrapped up a secured a second straight constructors’ championship in Azerbaijan in September.
When asked in an interview with PA if he was driving Norris ‘ McLaren, Verstappen reportedly replied without hesitation and with a smile, saying: “We wouldn’t be talking about a championship.
“It would already have been won, easily.
“I mean they won the constructors’ championship so early that yeah… you can fill it in yourself.”
He added: “Your dream is to win a championship and that is when the pressure is on,
“It was the same for me when I was fighting for my first title. You definitely feel more pressure of being in that fight and thinking ‘this is my chance’ and not knowing if you will get another one.
“People can hide a lot. And I would if I was in his (Norris’) position. The pressure of getting it over the line is in the back of his mind.
“He is more affected by it when someone says something negative but every person is different. I don’t care. I am like ‘whatever, you can say what you want’.
“When you have won four world championships already, it is amazing and I shouldn’t be in the fight really but I am here.”
Verstappen picked up a crucial win in Las Vegas, with Norris initially second, and Piastri initially fifth.
However, the McLaren pair were disqualified from the race, blowing the championship wide open.
As things stand, , if he outscores both Piastri and Verstappen by TWO points across the weekend.
The Brit can also win the title by finishing second in the Qatar Sprint, Grand Prix and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, regardless of who wins.
thrust himself back into the title race by winning four of the eight races staged since the summer break.
This seemed a far cry after Christian Horner was dismissed after a string of poor results for Red Bull.
When asked about Horner’s exit, Verstappen said: “The problem we had is that there was a lot of stuff that was going on.
“We were lost with the car and that didn’t help in terms of keeping everything under control and quiet and people were leaving, too.
“But everything together with the change in team boss, plus suddenly understanding the car, by coincidence it just brought peace because people were then suddenly more confident again and that calmed things down.”
When asked if he still speaks to Horner, Verstappen replied: “Yes. Every race weekend.
“He will send a message about anything; how the race went and keeping up to date with life. So, we are still in very good contact, absolutely.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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