‘It’s still on’: Lando Norris insists he can battle Max Verstappen for F1 crown

Lando Norris has insisted he is in the Formula One world championship fight with Max Verstappen and believes his McLaren team is well placed to take the competition to the wire, despite team orders denying him victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Norris’s teammate, Oscar Piastri, took his debut F1 win in Budapest with a superb drive, but the final third of the race was marked by McLaren’s team orders. When Piastri was leading the team pitted Norris before the Austra­lian, concerned that any problem at the stop may cost them a potential one- two. When Piastri then stopped, Norris took the lead on fresher tyres.

Norris was expected to give the place back but he resisted calls to do so until there were three laps to race. It cost him seven points against Verstappen, who now leads by 76 points with 11 races remaining. But Norris remained upbeat and confident he would be able to challenge the world champion.

“It’s still on,” he said. “I know it’s a big stretch. But I’m not going to say no to the challenge and definitely as a team, we won’t. Psychologically I’m happy, I’m excited. I’m ready to battle and looking forward to the battles that we’re going to have.”

“A lot of people are going to say that there’s no chance but we’re going to keep ­fighting and I’m going to give myself the best opportunity to do so, especially when you see Max today and Red Bull, not performing so well, making mistakes, crashing.”

The team orders row, however, overshadowed the race and, with Norris the only realistic contender to challenge Verstappen, McLaren’s decision not to prioritise him was questioned as was the standoff between the team and driver.