Verstappen delivers McLaren 'perfect' warning

Max Verstappen has warned McLaren and Lando Norris that a "perfect" end to the F1 season is required for the Briton to become world champion. 

Norris took a further three points out of Verstappen's lead in the drivers' championship last weekend in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, despite having started nine places behind the Dutchman. 

The McLaren driver recovered from 15th on the grid to finish fourth, directly ahead of Verstappen in fifth. Norris also collected the bonus point for setting the fastest lap. 

As a result, Verstappen has a 59-point advantage over Norris, ahead of this weekend's Singapore Gand Prix. 

206 points remain available across the remainder of the campaign, with Verstappen warning McLaren that the British outfit requires perfection for him to be toppled. 

"I think if we do a better job ourselves, they [McLaren] need to have a perfect end to the year."

Despite Red Bull's current issues, what has made reducing Verstappen's advantage difficult for Norris is that several drivers are currently competing for each race win. 

There has been a different race winner across the last four races, whilst Verstappen's last victory was claimed in the Spanish Grand Prix in June. 

When asked if several drivers fighting for each race win is an advantage for him in the title race, Verstappen said: "I guess in a way, yeah. But I don't like to, of course, always be P6 myself. We need to do a bit better. 

"Sunday already showed that, for example, with Checo, when he was a bit happier, the car was performing a bit better. 

"We are in the fight. Okay, maybe we didn't win, but we were in that fight with Checo. 

"So I think from now onwards, we can be in that fight constantly, if we keep improving the car step by step a little bit after our findings."