Albon unconvinced by Verstappen-Norris title fight hype

Alex Albon is unsure whether he believes Lando Norris can beat Max Verstappen to the drivers' championship, with the Williams driver being unconvinced by the title fight hype. 

Ahead of next weekend's Dutch Grand Prix, many have speculated whether Norris can claw back his 78-point deficit to Verstappen, and become an F1 world champion. 

It is very unlikely that this will happen, with Albon viewing the constructors' championship as the real title fight. 

McLaren head into the final 10 races of the season just 42 points adrift of Red Bull and with two drivers performing strongly. 

Red Bull is not in this position, with Sergio Perez having endured a disappointing first half of the season. 

Many, including former Haas boss Guenther Steiner, have tipped McLaren to beat Red Bull to the title. 

Albon is enjoying the fight and the exceptional racing which has been taking place at the front of the field.

"I don't know how much I believe Lando can take it off Max," Albon told RacingNews365 in an exclusive interview. 

"I look at it more like a constructors' championship battle than a drivers' championship battle. I think that what's great to see is just purely there's a fight. 

"There's a proper fight up at the top of every race, it seems to be some kind of thing going on. 

'New' experience for Norris

Since the current regulations were introduced in 2022, the majority of the battles during an F1 race have taken place in the midfield. 

Albon has been at the heart of many of these with Williams, although it is now at the front where the main action is unfolding. 

The 28-year-old believes it is good for the sport for the fighting to be taking place amongst the leaders, although he notes that the title fight is a new situation for Norris to deal with.

"I think last year, last few years, it's always been the midfield battles that have created any form of racing," continued Albon.

"And now it's actually the top teams are the ones that are creating the fighting, which is great to see.

"It's interesting, obviously, Max has been in his position, many a times. For Lando, it's more new for him.

"But yeah, I mean, obviously, I'm busy driving my car, but at the same time, when the blue flags do come up it's good to see the battles."