Formula 1 championship leader Lando Norris dismissed Max Verstappen’s claims that he could have easily won the 2025 title in a McLaren, saying the Red Bull star “talks nonsense” and sometimes has no clue.

Red Bull’s four-time world champion trails Norris by 25 points with just two races remaining. Meanwhile, McLaren, fresh off their second consecutive constructors’ title in October, have both Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri in contention, while Verstappen receives clear number-one treatment at Red Bull.

“Max is very welcome to say everything he wants,” Norris told reporters after finishing third in Saturday’s Qatar sprint, which was won by Piastri, with Verstappen fourth. “He’s earned the right—he’s won four world championships. He’s achieved an incredible amount, more than most people could dream of.

“Max generally has a good clue about a lot of things, but there are also a lot of things he doesn’t have much of a clue about. It’s also Red Bull’s way of going about things, this kind of aggressive nature, and, yeah, just talking nonsense a lot of the time.”

Verstappen started sixth in the 19-lap sprint under the floodlights at Lusail, with points awarded to the top eight finishers. Norris initially said he never saw Verstappen during the race but later clarified:

“Of course, I saw him, but he was never too much of a threat at all. My focus was more on George [Russell] and managing the tyres for later.”

The British driver added that he would continue to focus on one race at a time and tune out the external chatter.

Norris can clinch his first championship in Qatar on Sunday; otherwise, the battle will extend to Abu Dhabi next weekend.