Although Max Verstappen described this season as “difficult”, Lando Norris believes it has actually been “relatively easy” for the four-time World Champion given McLaren’s slow start.

Verstappen won his fourth consecutive Drivers’ Championship title under the lights of Las Vegas on Saturday night, his P5 giving him an unassailable 63-point lead over Norris.

Lando Norris sends ‘big congratulations’ to Max Verstappen

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock

After back-to-back clashes in Austin and Mexico between the title rivals, the writing was on the wall when Verstappen ended his winless streak with an emphatic P1 at the Brazilian Grand Prix where he raced from 17th place on the grid to take victory by almost 20 seconds. This victory was his first in 11 Grands Prix.

Verstappen spoke of a “a difficult journey” and a “difficult season” as he celebrated title number four at Sin City after finishing the Las Vegas GP in fifth place.

However, if you ask NorrisMcLaren actually made it easier for Red Bull given that they were late to the championship party.

“I think he still had a relatively easy season,” he told the media, including PlanèteF1.com. “I think if we had had a better car at the start of the year, we would have fought him a lot more, and he would have been under a lot more pressure than he ever was.

“So I think we put him under pressure as soon as we did. He made mistakes, and it showed that the team made mistakes, he made some mistakes, but over the course of the season it was very little compared to what he did.

“And that’s what makes it so good.” You know, he didn’t have a bad qualifying, he didn’t have a bad race – I think his worst race was probably what, Budapest or something, and he still finished, what, fifth.

“So you know he gets everything out of the car every time. And it’s always impressive to see. There are always things to learn.

Learn more about the 2024 F1 World Championship

F1 2024: head-to-head race statistics between teammates

The updated ranking of Drivers and Manufacturers after the Las Vegas GP

Easy or not, Norris applauded Verstappen’s efforts in 2024 as the Dutchman once again showed near perfection.

“A big congratulations to him,” he added. “He deserved it, he didn’t make a mistake, really, all year.

“So that’s one of his strengths, he doesn’t have any downsides, he doesn’t have any negative points. When he has the fastest car, he dominates the races. When he’s not in the fastest car, he’s still right behind us and almost won the races anyway.

“He just didn’t have any bad sides. He hasn’t had a bad race all year. His worst was about a fifth. He just drove like Max always drove, which is perfect and I can’t fault him.

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