Max Verstappen says McLaren’s driver pairing of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri is the best line-up of all the teams chasing Red Bull.
McLaren has scored the most points of any team over the past three races, with its return of 104 points even leading Red Bull’s next-best total of 74. Given the rate at which McLaren has been scoring, and with the team finishing second and third behind Verstappen in each of the past two races, the Dutchman says it makes Norris and Piastri his closest rivals.
“I do think that as a team they are probably the most consistent, compared to the others behind us,” Verstappen said. “And I do think they have the best driver line-up out of all of them. So yeah, they are operating really well. And, yeah, it’s going to be interesting to the end of the year, but also I think the start of next year to see where everyone is at.”
Having closed the gap to Aston Martin in the constructors’ championship to just 11 points in rapid fashion, McLaren is now being asked about the 79-point deficit to Ferrari in third place and whether that can negated over the final five rounds of the season.
“It’s doable,” Norris said. “I think so. A couple of races ago it was, 70-something to Aston. I don’t know what it is now … I mean, Fernando (Alonso) said we were overconfident as well! I think we’re just doing a good job, not just in terms of pace but we had a 1.8 second pit stop which is pretty impressive from the guys.
“They’ve been working extremely hard so to reward the whole team consistently is only more motivating and a bigger boost every weekend. They like the taste of success. It’s the first time they’re getting it consistently and I think that only makes them want it more and more and more every weekend that we’re doing so the guys are doing a great job. I think we’re both doing a decent job too, so we’ll keep it up.