Lando Norris Refutes Claims of Max Verstappen Being Slower Than McLaren in 2025

Lando Norris asserts that Max Verstappen has remained a strong challenger to McLaren so far this year.

Lando Norris Refutes Claims of Max Verstappen Being Slower Than McLaren in 2025

Lando Norris and Max Verstappen (image via Red Bull content pool)

Max Verstappen has kept up with impressive performances in the 2025 season despite facing incessant performance struggles at Red Bull. McLaren’s Lando Norris has failed to match up to the team’s expectations of him as Oscar Piastri takes the lead in the championship. Now, after facing defeat against Verstappen, Norris makes a bold claim about the former being on par with their car’s pace.

Max Verstappen remained vocal about the issues faced in his RB21 chassis since the beginning of the 2025 season. While Lando Norris also faced struggles in his car, it always remained the fastest on the track, as accepted by Oscar Piastri. Despite Verstappen’s seemingly struggling pace, Norris has refused to write off the former’s chances of succeeding this year.

Lando Norris reckons that McLaren and the other teams have much more information than what the public is commenting on. While there is a lot of negative information on Red Bull’s RB21, the car still remains a strong competitor. The 25-year-old asserts that the outside people, simply, the fans, have massively underestimated Red Bull and Verstappen’s capabilities this year.

I think we have more of the facts than I think what people on the outside do. There’s a lot of negative stuff about how bad their car is, but they’re very quick. We’ve said it the whole season, outside people have underestimated them.

Lando Norris told motorsportweek

Out of the first seven races, Max Verstappen has won two of them as compared to Norris’ single win. As such, the 25-year-old insists that Red Bull is a threat to McLaren and others in terms of pace this year, as they have been since the beginning. In addition to this, the Austrian constructor’s track record of dominating the past decade matters a lot in their success this year as well.

They’re a threat, they have been the whole year, they will continue to be, especially when you have a team that has won many World Championships, especially in the last 5–10 years.

Lando Norris added

Lando Norris asserts no one can ‘doubt’ Max Verstappen

Lando Norris made some controversial comments the previous year when Max Verstappen had the upper hand and was managing to win many more races than this year. Hence, the 25-year-old carefully uttered his words as he did not discount Verstappen’s chances this time around. The Dutchman will remain the favorite to win many of the upcoming races as Red Bull’s pace is only to improve from this point forward.

Lando Norris and Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)
Lando Norris and Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)

Norris pointed out that Red Bull had the comfort of Max Verstappen, which meant that there were no doubts about their chances of succeeding. The 25-year-old highlighted that Milton Keynes won the Emilia Romagna GP because they deserved the win. Moreover, the Briton didn’t hesitate to accept that McLaren went from heroes to zeroes from Miami to Imola as the grid remained unpredictable now.

And they have Max, and I don’t think you can ever doubt them. They won last weekend because they deserved it, they were good in slow speed, they were good in high speed, and they have a good car. But like we saw between Miami and Imola for ourselves, we can look like heroes one weekend and then we get beat in the next.

Lando Norris noted

The playing field seems leveled now, especially at the forefront, as multiple teams and drivers seem prepared to win over any weekend. The top three drivers are separated from one another by very few points as they aim to continue to build the gap. Now, time will tell if McLaren can fend off the in-form Max Verstappen, as Red Bull’s performance seems to improve.

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