Norris and Leclerc reject Verstappen’s claim he’d have won title in their cars · RaceFans

Max Verstappen’s claim he would have won this year’s world championship in a McLaren or a Ferrari has been dismissed by his closest rivals in the points standings.

McLaren driver Lando Norris, whose chances of beating Verstappen to the championship ended last weekend, denied his rival would have won the title in his car.

“Of course I’m going to say no,” he told Sky. “I know what Max is capable of doing. It depends: If there was no Red Bull, even I could have won. If there was no Red Bull and Max was not in the Red Bull, I would have won the championship.

“So I don’t believe it. I know what Max is capable of doing, and I like his confidence, but I can say whatever: I can say he was world champ but I can do this and that, but, not possible.”

Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen, Las Vegas Strip Circuit, 2024 — Verstappen said he could have won the title in a McLaren

McLaren could clinch the constructors’ championship this weekend. Red Bull, last year’s champions, lie third in the standings behind Ferrari.

Charles Leclerc, who is 84 points behind Verstappen in his Ferrari, also isn’t convinced his SF-24 was a potentially championship-winning car.

“Max is a very special driver and I think what makes him very special is also the confidence that he has,” said Leclerc. “However, I think it’s very difficult to say something like that not knowing actually what the car is like.”

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“I don’t know how the Red Bull is, I don’t know how the McLaren is and he doesn’t know how the Ferrari is,” Leclerc emphasised. “So it’s maybe a bit of a stretch to say something like that.”

Leclerc said he feels ambivalent about his chances of beating Norris to second place in the drivers’ championship. “At the end, I always say the second is the first of the losers,” he said. “You never really are excited about a second or a third or a fourth place.

“However, having said that, obviously second place in a year like this would mean a lot in a way because I think it’s not been an easy year.

“The priority remains the constructors’. However, the second place in the drivers’ would be a nice bonus. So it’s not like I don’t care at all but it will be a good thing to be finishing second after a year like this.”