Max Verstappen has revealed that he handed Lando Norris an open invitation to become his team-mate at Red Bull prior

It was only in Miami, where Norris took the first win of his Formula 1 career, that anything amounting to a “title fight” kicked off. His McLaren team had brought a comprehensive slate of upgrades to the Miami International Autodrome, and they worked much better than anyone had anticipated.

Lando Norris has refuted Max Verstappen’s claim he would’ve won the title “even earlier” in the McLaren, the Briton adamant Red Bull’s early-season advantage could not be overcome. Verstappen and Red Bull picked up where they left off last year with an emphatic 22-second victory at this year’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix where he led home a Red Bull 1-2.