Lando Norris quipped Max Verstappen could have a great career as a comedian after claiming his F1 2024 title win would have come sooner in the McLaren.

After a dominant start to the season for Max Verstappen, who won four of the opening five races, Lando Norris, armed with a much-improved McLaren – emerged as a threat to Verstappen’s quest for a fourth successive title.

Lando Norris: Max Verstappen ‘should start doing comedy’

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Verstappen has ended that title battle though with his P5 result in Las Vegas enough to secure a fourth World Championship in as many years. However, he claimed after that race that Red Bull had slowed down this achievement.

Asked whether he could have pulled off this title win in the McLaren MCL38, Ferrari SF-24, or Mercedes W15, Verstappen replied: “Yes, even earlier… So further ahead. [With Ferrari], pretty much the same, I think.

“The Mercedes, no. I think that would have been trickier.”

It safe to say that Norris does not share Verstappen’s opinion.

“He should start doing comedy or something,” Norris came back with when asked about Verstappen’s comments by the media, including PlanetF1.com, ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix.

“He can say whatever he wants. Of course, I completely disagree, as I would.

“He’s good, but yeah, it’s not true.”

In a situation now to the benefit of McLaren and Ferrari in the Constructors’ title push, Verstappen has lacked a serious threat on the other side of the garage with Sergio Perez having struggled in the sister RB20 this season. For Norris, he has had impressive team-mate Oscar Piastri to deal with, while Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have been a close match at Ferrari.

However, in regards to how a team-mate’s competitiveness impacts a Drivers’ title challenge, Norris can see drawbacks.

Asked if Perez’s struggles offered a significant boost for Verstappen’s title push, Norris replied: “No. I mean, there’s pros and cons.

“There’s pros of having… Like he has to do all of his work on his own, which is, hats off to him, you know, he doesn’t have someone who’s pushing him. He doesn’t have someone who’s trying other things with the car, and you can’t do a to b tests and things like that, because the data’s not as valuable when you don’t have someone who’s performing at the same level.

“So there’s a lot of things that Max can do that are phenomenal. Driving at the level he does consistently without a team-mate that can push him in any way, certainly makes his life harder from that perspective, also from team perspective.

“But at the same time, yeah, there’s no pressure. He doesn’t have to deal with trying to beat anyone in his own team. That comes with some comfort.

“But they go together. Sometimes, in some ways, I like having a bit of pressure, because it makes me do a slightly better job. I’m sure he’s going to say he doesn’t care whoever his team-mate is, you know, he’s not going to mind, but there’s pros and cons of having a strong team-mate, and I hope at some point he has one and I can challenge him a bit more.”

Verstappen and Norris began the season as good friends off track, and the Brit was quizzed on whether that remains the case after their championship battle, which has featured flashpoints such as their Austria collision and Mexico, where Verstappen received a time penalty totalling 20 seconds for his tactics used against Norris.

But, Norris assured that his and Verstappen’s relationship remains healthy.

Asked if their friendship has been strained by their title battle, Norris clarified: “No. I mean, there was some tougher moments, but we’re still good friends.

“We had a nice word with each other after the race last weekend. But no, I still have a lot of respect for him and everything he’s done. So, from my side, all good.”