Max Verstappen has revealed that he once "invited" Lando Norris to be his team-mate at Red Bull.
The Dutchman secured his fourth consecutive F1 drivers' title in the Las Vegas Grand Prix after Norris failed to keep his slim hopes alive.
Verstappen finished in fifth, directly ahead of the Briton in sixth. It has been a testing season for the two friends, with Norris having been in the title fight for the first time in his career.
For the four-time world champion, it has been his first experience in battling a friend for the championship.
He believes Norris has had a great season despite missing out on the crown, and revealed that in the past he offered the Briton the chance to partner him at Red Bull.
"I've spent, of course, quite a lot of moments with Lando before," Verstappen said. "So when I was already winning and he wasn't, I always told him, 'Your time will come. Stick to the process. I think you're in a good team environment'.
"I happily invited him also to be my team-mate at the time, if you want to win, you can come here [to Red Bull] as well.
"But of course, I'm happy for him. He had a great season, maybe not everything went his way this year, but that's just part of the road that you're on. You make mistakes, you learn from it. It's about how you bounce back from it.
"We are friends now, we are not best friends, it's not like I call him day to day. Both of us have our own best friends, that's how you grow up, right? But we are friends. I have a lot of respect for him."
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Verstappen media complaints
Despite their friendship, Verstappen and Norris have duelled several times this season. On occasion, it has resulted in a collision.
The most controversial incidents occurred in Austin and Mexico City, when the tension could be cut with a knife.
Verstappen recognises that himself and Norris had their moments, but that there is incredible respect between them.
He criticised the media for at times asking "silly" questions, which resulted in answers that at moments infuriated fans.
"The media sometimes, they ask some questions which are a bit silly, or we give sometimes a bit of an answer, because we're a bit pressured in this championship fight," added Verstappen.
"Sometimes I find it a bit unfair when, Lando, for example, he gave a comment, and then a lot of fans, they fall out over it, 'Ah, he's not respectful', or the other way around as well.
"From my side, we respect each other a lot. Of course, at times we were under a lot of pressure as well, and we had our moments together. We had some clashes and stuff like that.
"But at the end of the day, I think we can always look each other in the eye and appreciate what we're doing. We have a lot of respect on-track, off-track, and he's a great guy, honestly, like he's a great driver also. And I'm sure that also his time will come, that he will win titles."
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