Norris: Verstappen made my life tough

Norris had to outscored the Championship leader by at least three points in the streets of Las Vegas to keep his Title hopes alive. However this wasn't to be, as Verstappen finished ahead of the British-Belgian driver with the pair crossing the line in fifth and sixth places respectively. With the gap now at 63 points and only 60 points left on offer, Norris' challenge for the top spot has come to an end.

It was a race to forget for McLaren, who were a fair distance behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull in terms of pace throughout much of the weekend. Mercedes dominated proceedings, with George Russell finishing ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton in a one-two for the Brackley-based outfit.

Norris closed in on Verstappen in the second half of the season as McLaren found pace while Red Bull struggled with balance issues on their RB20. He came to within 47 points of the Championship lead after the Mexico City Grand Prix, but lost all that he had gained during the following weekend in Brazil, where Verstappen produced a superlative drive to win from P17 on the starting grid.

It was Norris' first season in contention for the Drivers' crown, and the McLaren driver made several mistakes throughout the campaign in winning positions which hurt his chances in the long run. He admitted that he didn't feel ready to battle it out against Verstappen just yet.

Now the second-placed driver in the Standings has congratulated his nearest rival for successfully defending his Championship.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the Grand Prix, Norris stated: "Congrats to Max. Knowing the championship is 100 per cent over, we always had a little hope inside but he drove an incredible season.

"When he had the quickest car, he dominated, when he didn't, he was still there and always in my heels. He made my life tough. We made his tough I'm sure at times. But he drove a better season and of course a big congrats to him. That's the main thing," added the British-Belgian.

On the race itself, Norris expressed disappointment in the performance of his MCL38. He continued: "The race was pretty pants. Bad pace, bad grip, bad tyre management, just a poor weekend from us.

"It was a reasonable race but we didn't have any pace in the car, and experienced difficult, challenging conditions. It's just not been our weekend, we struggled a lot. Clearly we have a lot of things we need to improve on the car for the future.

"We'll now turn our attention to next weekend and coming back stronger in Qatar, a circuit that should suit our car better than Vegas. All our focus is on these last two races," concluded Norris in a race report published by McLaren.

With a Constructors' fight still to play for, Norris will be hoping to perform well at the remaining two Grands Prix. The next one will commence on Sunday 1 December at 16:00 GMT (19:00 local time) in Qatar.