Red Bull set new target for Max Verstappen to break Lando Norris' heart

Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko has laid down the gauntlet to Max Verstappen in a fresh bid to stave off Lando Norris in the F1 2024 Drivers' Championship.

Verstappen maintains a 52-point lead over Norris in the standings after 18 races, accumulating 331 points in the process. But the Briton has gradually closed the gap at the front and is catching the Dutchman at a rapid rate.

The 24-year-old clinched victory at the Singapore Grand Prix ahead of Verstappen with a significant 21-second gap over his championship rival.

No driver has won more races than Verstappen in 2024 after he took his seventh victory at the Spanish Grand Prix in June. But that was also the last time Red Bull celebrated a win in F1 - a run that stretches back eight races.

In that time, McLaren have swiftly moved to the front of the grid in terms of pace and results, while Mercedes and Ferrari have also made strides forward by picking up victories of their own.

But Marko, 81, is confident the Austrian team will get back on track in the Drivers' Championship if Verstappen is able to win two more times in the remaining six races.

"If you can achieve that [winning the Drivers' Championship], and I think that is only possible if Max wins at least two more races, then it also looks a bit more optimistic for the Constructors' Championship," Marko told told Motorsport-Total.

Red Bull have not only seen their lead eroded by McLaren in the Constructors' Championship, they are currently trailing by 40 points after Sergio Perez's concerning decline in the second half of the season.

While the long-serving Red Bull chief accepts the Constructors' title may be heading to Woking, he is confident that Red Bull have the pace to continue scoring enough points to secure Verstappen's fourth consecutive title - and that in turn would boost their hopes of clinching both crowns.

"With the performance we have now? Yes, but I am optimistic," Marko added. "If Max wins races again and Sergio can finish third or fourth, then things will look different again.

"But as I said, the focus is primarily on the drivers' title."

The real test will arrive at the United States Grand Prix in Austin on October 20 - the first leg of a triple-header in North America.

Verstappen has won each of the last three races at the Circuit of the Americas, although it remains to be seen if Red Bull have the pace to see off the Papaya's looming threat.