Lando Norris has brushed off Max Verstappen’s claim the championship would have been over “a long time ago” if he was driving a McLaren, saying it fits Red Bull’s approach of “just talking nonsense.” Norris entered the Qatar Grand Prix weekend with a 24-point buffer over Verstappen and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri at the top of the world championship standings.

Tensions briefly boiled over in the media pen at the Qatar Grand Prix after George Russell interrupted Lando Norris’ interview to confront him over an incident during qualifying.

Max Verstappen has told Lando Norris that if he was driving his McLaren the world championship would "easily" be over.

Lando Norris sounded despondent over the team radio after a moment of understeer resulted in him failing to set a final flying lap. After Oscar Piastri had won from pole in the sprint, Norris was hoping for a fightback in qualifying for the main race but instead was unable to have one last go at the quickest lap.