Lando Norris reacts to Max Verstappen's claim that he would have won the title by now in a McLaren.

It's long been a practice in sport to intimidate one's rivals both on and off the field of play, and when a rival is known to wear their heart on their sleeve, the likes of a Max Verstappen is certain to take advantage.

Speaking as the Qatar weekend got underway, the Dutchman was asked how he thinks the season would have gone had he been at the wheel of a McLaren MCL39.

"We wouldn't be talking about a championship," he replied. "It would already have been won, easily," he added. "I mean they won the constructors' championship so early that yeah, you can fill it in yourself."

Told of the Dutchman's claim, Norris was quick to react.

"Max is very welcome to say everything he wants, to be honest," he told reporters. "He kind of earned the right. He's won four world championships.

"I have a lot of respect," he continued, "and I think that gives anyone a lot of credit in general. He's achieved an incredible amount, more than anyone generally dreams of achieving.

"Max generally has a good clue about a lot of things, but there's also a lot of things he doesn't have much of a clue about," he added. "It's also Red Bull's way of going about things. It's this kind of aggressive nature and just talking nonsense a lot of the time. It depends if you want to listen to it and talk about it like you love to, or you do what we do as a team, which is just kind of keep our heads down, keep focused.

"Maybe he would have done," he said of Verstappen winning the title in the McLaren, "but he hasn't so far."

Told of Norris' response, Verstappen suggested that the Briton is feeling the heat.

"I just put all facts on the table," he said. "I know that from my own experience as well," he continued. "When you're fighting for your first world title, you naturally feel a bit more pressure than in the years after that.

"It's a bit trickier for Lando this weekend," he added. "Oscar feels good again, I think, and you could also see that in Q3.

"Lando still has a decent lead, also on Oscar, so it's all a bit hard to predict."

Zak Brown has warned that Verstappen will be aggressive at the start, seeking to push Norris into a mistake. The American warns that Turn 1 will be particularly vicious as the Red Bull driver has less to lose.

"Yes, especially compared to Lando," Verstappen agreed. "I think he knows that as well.

"But on the other hand, I'm not too worried about it. I'll just try to do my best. If there's an opportunity, then of course I'll go for it. But at the same time, you don't want to do anything crazy either, because that won't help you anyway."