Maximum success matters more to Lando Norris than friendship with Max Verstappen

Lando Norris admits he would choose beating Max Verstappen to the world championship over preserving their friendship.

The British driver has ignited his Formula One title hopes by taking 16 points out of Verstappen’s lead – which stands at 62 points with eight races remaining – over the last two races.

The pair, who collided while fighting for the lead in June’s Austrian Grand Prix, are still good friends off the track and even travelled to this weekend’s race in Azerbaijan together.

Norris believes they are able to separate their on-track battles from their personal life but when asked if he would sacrifice that relationship in favour of beating three-time champion Verstappen to the drivers’ title, the 24-year-old was very clear.

“Of course I would always choose beating him,” McLaren’s Norris said.

“But as I’ve said many times, the fact that I get along with him has nothing to do with how I treat him on track.

“I respect Max a lot, we are friends but it is clear he wants to beat me and I want to beat him. We are competitors, I am fighting for a world championship against him.

“It has nothing to do with how we get along off the track, it is two completely different worlds.

“When you are on track you are not friends, you are enemies and I think that will always stay the same.”

It is hard to believe many sporting rivals would share a plane together – along with Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg – in the midst of such an intense battle but Norris says they are able to talk about things other than the title scrap.

“It’s still relaxed between us,” Norris added. “We talk about different things, we talk about racing, sim racing, padel, lots of different things.

“He is just a good guy to talk to and get along with so we always have a good laugh.

“This is the first time I have flown with Max in a long time. It is just normal. I would not say anything has changed.

“He’s an honest guy, that no b******t mentality I like with the people I work with.

“I prefer people who are honest. If they hate it they say they hate it and if they love it they say they love it.

“Just people who are themselves and there are too many people in the world who are not that and just say what you want to hear.

“I don’t have time for those kinds of people. Max is the opposite of that, he is himself and says what he thinks.”

McLaren and team-mate Oscar Piastri have agreed to favour Norris over the remainder of the season as they bid to wrestle both drivers’ and constructors’ titles from Red Bull.

Norris said on Thursday that does not mean Piastri will sacrifice wins to help him and that he would not be proud of being ‘given’ his maiden world title.

Norris has spent time away from the heat of his first serious title challenge by playing golf with friends since the last race in Monza a fortnight ago.

He revealed that he keeps his friendship group largely separate from the F1 world and believes that helps him to switch off.

“I have always been very closed off with my friends. All of my friends are people that I have grown up with the last 10 years,” Norris said.

“There are very few that are new friends since coming into Formula One.

“For sure (it helps me switch off). Because they are there for me, they are the people who are honest with me and I can talk about things with.

“Just people who will give their honest opinions, honest criticism. Those are the people I want around me.”