Norris: Verstappen’s F1 resurgence, no surprise.

Norris Anticipates Verstappen’s Return to the Title Fight

Lando Norris has expressed that he is not surprised by Red Bull’s resurgence in the last races, anticipating that Max Verstappen will become a strong contender in the battle for the championship. After Verstappen’s consecutive victories in Azerbaijan and Italy, the Dutch driver is 69 points behind the championship leader, Oscar Piastri, and 44 points behind Norris, who is in second place. Verstappen’s victory at Monza ended a streak of eight races without winning, in which he only achieved two podium finishes, while Red Bull struggled to find the desired performance.

It’s not common for them to be slow, so I think people should stop being surprised that they’re fast.

Lando Norris

Norris recalled that Verstappen was already winning races at the beginning of the season and that Red Bull’s performance has been consistent throughout the year. In addition, he highlighted the improvements the team brought to Monza, which allowed them to improve even more. The British driver, who has been competing for the title with his teammate Piastri during the 2025 season, is 25 points behind the Australian in the overall standings. Norris acknowledged that McLaren had performance difficulties in the last two races in Baku and Monza, which seemed to favor Red Bull’s strengths.

They are going to make our lives difficult I think for the rest of the season, but we also know on our part, that we have had difficulties here (in Baku), Monza we were clearly not fast enough.

Lando Norris

The driver added that McLaren has made improvements, but that Red Bull still dominates in areas where they have been very strong in the past. Norris also commented on his weekend at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where the chaotic qualifying session on Saturday ruined his expectations. After Piastri suffered an accident at the start of Q3, Norris was the first driver to return to the track and encountered the end of a downpour, which made it difficult to set a clean lap. Norris concluded by saying that, despite the difficulties, the team still has room for improvement and that they must continue working to reach Red Bull’s performance level.