Bitter rivals Horner and Wolff deliver verdict on Max Verstappen’s F1 title challenger

Usually at each other's throats, Christian Horner and Toto Wolff on Sunday (May 19) agreed that the rise of Lando Norris and McLaren over the last year had put the Briton as a contender for the Formula 1 title against Max Verstappen. Norris followed up his maiden F1 victory in Miami a couple of weeks ago with an impressive second-place podium finish in Imola.

Speaking after the race, the Red Bull team principal was all praise for Norris and admitted that McLaren were their leading rivals for the title.

“Arguably over the last couple ofracesthey have been the main competitor. They have definitelyadded performance to their car, they have made a step, so we expect them to be competitive at all circuits.”

“You can’t take anything for granted, we certainly don’t, the margins are very fine,” said Horner.

Though Verstappen won theEmilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, he had a narrow escape as he was chased down in the final laps by Norris who finished only 0.7 second behind. The British driver could have won the race with one or two more laps.

“In year three of theserulesthere is always going to be convergence. We are seeing exactly that. The look of the cars is converging, the performance is converging. We will see more races like Sundays with very fine margins," added Horner.

'This is what we need'

Mercedes team boss, Wolff, echoed similar sentiments and said he viewed the improvements made by McLaren, not from an 'envious' point of view.

“It’sfantasticrecoverystory,when you look at where McLarenwere12 months ago. We have to have respecthowthey have done things and more competition at the front is good for the sport," said Wolff.

“I’m not looking at that with envy, quite the contrary, I’m looking at that and saying this is what we need toachieve,because they’ve been able to do that. It’s just good engineering.”

Wolff's statement is particularly important as Mercedeshavebeen struggling to put up a car that can consistently deliver results. After finishing sixth at the Italian Grand Prix,seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton opined that Mercedes were in 'no man's land'

"We are in no-man’s land. There wasn’t much more for us to get today. He further stated, "It is where we are and we have to do the best we can and that is the best we could do today."

(With inputs from agencies)