Verstappen urges Norris to put Dutch Grand Prix retirement out of his mind in title bid

Max Verstappen has stated that Lando Norris needs "to keep working hard" and put the disappointment of retiring from the Dutch Grand Prix behind him if he is to stand a chance at this year's title.

Norris and McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri have been locked in a battle for the Drivers' Championship all season, with just nine points separating the pair heading to Zandvoort last weekend.

Norris was shadowing his team mate throughout Sunday's race until the closing stages when he suffered a mechanical problem that forced him to retire.

With Piastri claiming his seventh win of the season, Norris now trails his title rival by 34 points with just nine races of the season remaining.

After finishing second at his home event, Verstappen was asked how easy it was to pick himself up from setbacks in his own title battles, particularly in 2021 when the Dutchman fought Lewis Hamilton for the title.

During that season, Verstappen suffered a high-speed puncture in Baku when leading, and also recorded non-scores at Silverstone and Monza after collisions with Hamilton.

"I mean, it’s out of your control. So, you just need to keep working hard, keep trying to win," said Verstappen.

"As simple as that. Especially when you are team mates, you have the same car, same opportunities. It’s probably a little bit more complicated than when it’s two different teams, but still a lot of races and you can see things can swing.

"You don’t know if you [will] get a mechanical failure or not, it’s out of your control. So yes, it’s not ideal, but there are enough races to either turn it around or not, and time will tell."

While Piastri has yet to retire from a race this season, finishing all 15 Grands Prix in the points, the Australian suffered a setback at the opening race in his home country after spinning off in the rain and believes nothing is guaranteed yet.

"I need to keep pushing and try to win," he said.

"I wouldn't say it's a very comfortable margin, as we saw today, it can change with one DNF very, very quickly so this far out from the end of the year, it's not a comfortable gap."