McLaren team boss Zak Brown says Lando Norris raced Max Verstappen “really hard” in the 2024 Formula 1 season but suggests his driver may have to up hiꩲs aggression levels.

After hitting the ground running in the first 10 races of the 2024 s🔯eason, in wh𒉰ich he won seven grands prix, Verstappen and Red Bull came under increasing threat from Norris and McLaren.

On several occasions, the pair engaged 🍸each other hard on track - most notably Austria, when they collided in the closing stages.

Despite the Red Bull’s obvious wea꧑knesses compared to the McLaren, Verstappen was still crowned the 2024 world champion with two rounds to spare.

Norris comes into the Abu Dhabi finale eight points clear of Charles Leclerc in the race to finish ꧙second in the standings.

Asked by Sky Sports F1 on Friday if he felt Norris wa🎃s perhaps too submissive against Verstappen in 2024, Brown suggested that the 🍨former may have to alter his approach in 2025.

“I think w🗹e’ve seen him race Max really hard,” 🌞he said.

“Lando’s a different kind of ch𒈔aracter. I think he’s going to do his talkin🍎g on the track, versus making a lot of comments off the track.

“That’s the nature, so I think he’s 🐎learning how to race Max.

“H𓄧e raced him pretty hard but also knew he wasn’t going to be give♑n a lot of space.

“I’m glad he was able to avoid incidents, but I t🔴hink that’s something he’s going to have to decide how he wants to race Max next year.”

Constructors’ title showdown being treated as normal weekend

While Norris i⛄🐬s in his own race to finish runner-up in the drivers’ standings, McLaren could also secure its first constructors’ championship since 1998 in Abu Dhabi.

It leads Ferrari by 21 points, with McLaren dealt a helping hand by 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果𒅌历史:Leclerc being hit with a 10-place grid drop for needing a new battery after encountering iss😼ues in FP1.

But, as far as Brown is c♍once🌠rned, McLaren is treating Abu Dhabi as a normal weekend and feels “it would be a mistake” to alter that thinking.

“We’re trying to ignore that it’s a big race weekend, which I think is goin꧟g really wel🎐l for the team - me a little bit less so,” he added.

“🍃But I think what’s important is we just go racing as we’ve gone racing for the last 23 races.

“The minute we try to start doing sometജhing differently, I think that would be a mistake.

“So, we’re just trying to treat it like any other weekend, o🐻f cour𝔉se paying attention to the red cars.

“We’ll see how the r𓂃ace plays out if we’re racing for a championship. Right now, it’s business as usual.”

On Leclerc’s penalty, Brown noted: “It doesn’t hurt, but thei✱r c🤡ar is very fast. We know they will be fast around here.

“We’ve seen Max go from P17 to win [in Brazil].

“Obviously, it was a little bit different circumstances, assumiꦛng it doesn’t have a torrential downpour here on Sunday. B💙ut we want to win it on track.”