Norris makes Verstappen prediction as Belgian battle looms

Max Verstappen remains a "real threat" to Lando Norris in the Belgian Grand Prix, the McLaren driver believes. 

Verstappen will be starting 11th on the Spa grid following a 10-place grid-drop for taking a fifth internal combustion engine, having qualified on pole position. 

This was known heading into qualifying, but McLaren was unable to capitalise on the situation given the title fight, with Norris and Oscar Piastri starting fourth and fifth, behind Charles Leclerc, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton.

Unlike qualifying, the race is expected to be dry, with Friday's race pace simulations hinting that the two would be closely matched, with Verstappen having carved through the field from 14th in 2022 to win in a dominant fashion. 

As he seeks to reduce the 76 point gap in the drivers' championship to the Red Bull driver heading into the summer break, Norris remains wary of what is behind him.

"Yes, definitely a threat," he assessed to media including RacingNews365.

"I think clearly he's been quickest all weekend, even in FP2, they just turned the engine down, and they had a lot more pace in the bag. 

"It is a good thing as it shows there is a lot more work to do, even after the great races of the past few weeks.

"Red Bull has always been there or thereabouts, Max was easily on par with us in qualifying [in Hungary], and had pretty much the same race pace, he just made more mistakes than what we did. 

"At the minute, he is definitely the strongest, so is going to be a threat, but [qualifying] was low fuel, so hopefully high fuel will be a bit more even, but 100% he is going to be coming through quickly and will be a real threat for us at some point. 

Not just Verstappen

Norris also touched on getting past the Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes machines ahead of him, and singled out Perez, who he feels could be used to help hold him up to allow Verstappen to close up. 

"It is the same for Max, we have to get past all of them, but I know that Checo will potentially have a bit more of a defensive mindset than the others," he said.

"Charles is fighting off pole for a win, so he is going to be fighting hard, the same with Hamilton, he is always going to be aggressive and defensive when he needs to be. 

"I wouldn't say Perez is going to be any more of a threat, but he is in the quickest car, so getting past, making the tyres last better is going to be harder than against some of the others. 

"When you look at the pace from Friday, it gives us a decent amount of confidence that we can keep our heads down and focus on ourselves, and hopefully get through them at some point.