Lando Norris made a huge Max Verstappen claim, saying that he won the championship without the best car on the grid.
Verstappen clinched his first world title after going toe-to-toe with the illustrious Lewis Hamilton over 22 races. The two drivers were evenly matched throughout, but the final race of the season saw the Dutchman pip his British counterpart to the championship.
Nobody in F1 becomes champion without a top car. While the Red Bull driver no doubt had a super-fast car, his McLaren friend was not quite sure he had the fastest one.
Norris made a huge Verstappen claim, saying that his achievement was extra amazing because the Red Bull was inferior to the Mercedes.
“I congratulate him (Verstappen) for what he’s done this season because I don’t believe he’s had the better car this season,” Norris told RacingNews365.com.
“I think the Mercedes has been the better car throughout the majority of the season and Max has been more unlucky and I think made less mistakes as a driver. Lewis has a lot more experience, won many more championships, and so on.
“I’m very happy for him. He’s a good friend of mine. I congratulated him earlier, but I also congratulated Lewis because he’s also had an amazing season and done many things very, very well to go for a championship.”
Confusion
Norris also gave his thoughts on the controversy that ensued for Verstappen to take the title, and said that it was done for show.
“They said they weren’t going to let us pass, but then to suddenly do it for the final lap was a bit of a surprise,” he said.
“It was obviously made to be a fight. It was for the TV, it was for the result. Whether or not it was fair is hard for me to decide.
“I just have to say congratulations to both drivers. It’s been a lot of fun to watch,” he concluded.
Read more: Norris makes huge claim regarding 2022 cars – “Feels a little bit like F2”