Norris: I still respect Verstappen, ask me again end of year

Norris and Verstappen are known to be paddock buddies, but their title fight this season is taking a toll on their friendship, if you believe that kind of thing exists between F1 drivers.

While Verstappen's Red Bull RB20 has dropped back in performance since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix after a failed upgrade, Norris' MCL38 has been getting better and better since a breakthrough upgrade over the weekend of the Miami Grand Prix.

As a result, Norris became the closest and only threat on Verstappen's fourth F1 title quest, and the fight between them has resulted in a few flashpoints, starting with Austria, then in Austin and Mexico City.

In Austria, the two clashed, with Norris retiring and Verstappen getting a puncture but managing to finish fifth despite getting a penalty.

In Austin, the pair had another on-track altercation that caused controversy as Norris was penalized and Verstappen wasn't, while in Mexico City, it was the other way around.

Speaking to F1 TV on the Pre-Race Show for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Norris was asked how his off-track friendship with Verstappen was affected by their heated on-track battles.

"I don’t know, I’m split," the Briton responded. "In some ways, you kind of think how someone can be personally and how you can get along with people [who] can be so different to how you are on track.

"It’s such a different world there on the track to here doing this [in the paddock]. It’s my first time being in this situation, and time will tell how that changes.

"But for now I still respect Max; I think he respects me, but maybe ask me again at the end of the year!" Norris maintained.

Verstappen is known to be a tough racer and has come under criticism for his racing tactics. He is now going through his second intense title fight, his first being in 2021 against Lewis Hamilton, which also included a fair amount of controversy.

It was pointed out to Norris that he was only the second driver Verstappen fought so hard after Hamilton, and when asked how he felt about it, he said: "It’s a compliment, that’s for sure

"But he’s doing what he believes is best, which is fair dos. It might not always be the right thing, but we always do what we believe is right and we always do what we believe is the best at that time.

"He’s doing what he has to to try and keep me behind him in the championship because he’s under pressure, Red Bull’s under pressure, they’re not delivering.

"We as a team have overtaken them, Ferrari have overtaken them. They’re doing their best, we’re doing our best, and the more pressure we can put them under the more of these kinds of mistakes they’ll probably do," the McLaren driver concluded.

With Verstappen winning in Sao Paulo and Norris finishing sixth, the latter now trails his rival by 62 points in the 2024 F1 drivers' standings as three races remain this season: Las Vegas, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi.