Lando Norris will beat Max Verstappen for the 2024 F1 title, claims pundit

F1 pundit Will Buxton claimed that McLaren driver Lando Norris would win the championship in 2024 and beat Max Verstappen. The British driver is the closest challenger to the three-time world champion in terms of points with just six races and three sprints remaining this year.

The 24-year-old has had arguably the fastest car in the sport ever since the Miami Grand Prix, where he won his maiden race in F1, and has gone on to add a couple of more to his name. The Red Bull driver only needs to finish second in every competitive session for the rest of the year to win his fourth successive championship.

During his appearance on the Fast and Curious podcast, Buxton was hedging his bets on Lando Norris as he picked the Brit over the Dutch driver, saying:

"I've been saying it since Austria. It was when he came up the second in the championship which was the Austrian Grand Prix weekend. I drilled Stella on it in the pitlane when Piastri passed him in the Sprint race and I was like what are you doing?"

"Why are you letting him take points off Norris? It's taken from Austria to now for Lando to get back to the same points gap he had it's happening. I genuinely think it is."

Lando Norris gives his take on needing Oscar Piastri's help in the title race

McLaren driver Lando Norris stated that he hadn't "lost any points" in the title battle against Max Verstappen due to his teammate Oscar Piastri taking points away from him.

As per Motorsportweek, the Brit was adamant that there are other drivers in the championship battles as well, saying:

“I’ve not lost out on any points. It’s like saying from Round 1 Oscar needs to let me pass in every race, it doesn’t make sense. I’ve been the closest for a long time, but other drivers can still win the championship, not just me.

“We’re still fighting for ourselves – Oscar is fighting for himself, Charles [Leclerc] is fighting for himself. There isn’t a number. You cannot say exactly what race rules need to change. It doesn’t make sense. I’m very happy with how we’ve worked as a team and the direction we’re going.”

With six races and three Sprints remaining, Lando Norris is 52 points behind Max Verstappen in the standing, and his teammate Oscar Piastri is a further 32 points behind the Brit in P4.

The McLaren driver has won two of the four races after the summer break in Zandvoort and Singapore in dominant fashion, while Piastri won the race in Baku before Singapore, highlighting the all-arounder nature of the MCL38 this season.