3 days Ago By Sam Cooper
Christian Horner believes it is “inevitable” Max Verstappen and Lando Norris’ relationship will suffer if the two continue to be rivals on the track. Both Monaco residents, Norris and Verstappen are known to spend time with each other away from the track but that relationship was put under the microscope in 2024. Norris’ rise to title contender in 2024 meant his relationship with Verstappen was put under strain, most notably following incidents in Austria and Austin, but the two seemed to come out of the season still on good terms.
However, another year of competition and Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes it is inevitable the relationship will suffer. “Max has other friendships in F1, Lando Norris is a good pal of his,” he told talkSPORT. “They’ve traveled to many races, but inevitably, that gets put under pressure when you’re competing.
“Is [heavyweight boxer] Tyson Fury going to be mates with his opponent? Maybe after the fight but certainly not in the build up to it.” The tensions between the two reached their worst after Austin following Verstappen’s pushing of Norris off the track. In the media pen afterwards, Norris said he would “lose respect” for the Dutchman if he did not take the blame.
“If he says he did nothing wrong, then I’ll lose a lot of respect for that,” Norris told Sky Sports. Verstappen, meanwhile, called out social media users who he said make an argument seem a lot worse than the reality. F1 schedule: When is the next F1 race and where is it being held? F1 testing plans for 2025 season with dates and venue confirmed “People always make it really like a lot worse on social media,” Verstappen said on Red Bull’s in-house Talking Bull podcast when asked about the current state of his relationship between himself and Norris.
“There are a lot of idiots on that platform that always have something to say, something to complain about. There was a lot of positive people, but also some proper idiots. “I think it’s better just to ignore all of that.
But Lando and I, we get on very well. “Of course, at times it got a bit tense on track, but off track, that shouldn’t matter. We always try to do the best we can on track to get the best possible result.
“You are fighting for a World Championship, so I think it’s normal that these kind of things can happen, but we’re good.” Read next: Lewis Hamilton v Charles Leclerc: A bigger challenge than George Russell?.
