Lando Norris rubbishes Oscar Piastri claim and admits Max Verstappen fear

Lando Norris reckons Max Verstappen has become a "genuine" threat for the Formula 1 title. But the Brit was quick to mock the suggestion that McLaren might have to make championship leader Oscar Piastri their number one driver to ward off the threat of the Dutchman.

Consecutive triumphs for Verstappen mean he enters this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix trailing Piastri by 69 points, with 199 points remaining across the final seven races. Piastri suffered a crash in the previous round in Azerbaijan whilst Norris managed seventh from start to finish.

"He is genuinely a challenger," Norris said of the four-time world champion. "If you go back to the beginning of the season they were challenging us for the first six or seven races for wins, then we brought some upgrades and improved a little bit. But then they brought a couple of upgrades and that has put them on the same level.

"We are still expecting to dominate and we come to these races with the goal and ambition of winning and wanting to dominate and continue the form we have shown all season. But in Baku we had the car to win and we didn't. We had the chance to fight Max. At the round before in Monza they were too quick for us.

"And if there are some races coming up where he is too fast, which is very possible, because I expect them to be quick for many of the races this season. We will go to Las Vegas and other low-downforce tracks where we don't expect to be as great as we have been - so that is an opportunity for Red Bull - but we are just focusing on ourselves and maximising our performances."

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Norris, trailing Piastri by 25 points in the championship race, was asked if he feared McLaren might have to prioritise one of their drivers to beat Verstappen and secure their first drivers' title since Lewis Hamilton's victory in 2008. But he replied in a mocking tone: "I am very concerned. I am very worried about it. And scared frankly. I am happy you asked that... No."

This time last year, Verstappen held a comfortable 59-point lead over Norris before clinching his fourth consecutive title with three races to spare. Reflecting on his championship prospects in Singapore, Verstappen said: "I have nothing to lose, really. As a team, we approach it like that, too. Sixty-nine points is still a lot especially when you look at how the season has gone so far, and McLaren have been incredibly dominant. That doesn't suddenly change.

"But I am not too stressed about anything. I am enjoying what I am doing in F1 and outside of F1 and trying to do the best I can every time I jump into the car. Some tracks will be better, some worse, and this could be one of those. But if we win it, great, and if we don't we don't. Life goes on. If we can win a few more races that would be nice, and if that means we still didn't win the world championship then so be it."