George Russell speaking after the Las Vegas Grand Prix. (Image: Viaplay)
driver has taken aim at by suggesting that has not been given a “proper fight” for the F1 world title. The Dutchman took fifth place in Las Vegas , with his rival a place behind him.
His supremacy had appeared under threat during the second half of this season, with Norris cutting his lead to just 47 points with four races to go.
However, last time out set him up to win the title today, with races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi still to come.
It was Russell himself who took the chequered flag in ‘Sin City’, holding off team-mate . And afterwards, he voiced his ambitions to challenge the man next season, implying he had cruised to his latest crown.
“I just want to make sure we get in that fight now, because it’s about time somebody gave him a proper fight,” he said. “That’s my plan, that’s what I want to do.
“He’s a fierce competitor and have done amazing. But this championship should’ve gone down to the wire, you could argue it shouldn’t have gone….Max probably wasn’t the favorite at one point, yet he wins it with two races to go.”
George Russell congratulates Max Verstappen. (Image: Getty)
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The gap between Verstappen and Norris now stands at 63 points, with Charles Leclerc in third, 21 behind the British driver. Russell now lies sixth, nine points ahead of Hamilton.
The pace of and however, has undoubtedly been superior to in the latter part of the campaign. And after celebrating his title success, Verstappen did predict a tougher fight in 2025.
“It’s going to be a proper battle between a lot of cars,” he said. “I’m hungry, but I’m going to enjoy this. We go at it again next week.”
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Internal strife at has also made for strained relations, with the 27-year-old’s father Jos calling for team principal to be removed from his position following allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards a female employee. However, Verstappen praised team mechanics for not panicking this year as Norris fought back.
“It’s been a long season,” he explained. “We started off amazing, cruising, then we had a tough run. We kept it together, working on improvements. Incredibly proud.