Las Vegas (AFP) - Lando Norris clapped his congratulations for Max Verstappen from the cockpit of his McLaren car after the Dutchman claimed a fourth consecutive drivers’ world title by finishing fifth at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The pair, rivals on the track and friends off it, hugged and exchanged words later in the aftermath of the Red Bull driver’s championship victory in a race won by George Russell ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

“Massive congratulations to him,” said Norris.

“He’s deserved it. He’s not put a foot wrong really the whole year. That’s a strength of his. He has no downsides. He has no negatives.

“When he’s had the quickest car, he dominated races. When he’s not in the quickest car, he’s still been just behind us and almost winning the races anyway.”

Norris admitted both he and McLaren had made mistakes which proved costly and said they had lacked in experience.

“Some of it’s experience,” he said.

“I think he’s (Verstappen) still had a relatively easy season.

“I think if we had a better car at the beginning of the year, we would have been fighting him a lot more.

“He would have been under pressure a lot more pressure than he’s ever been. As soon as we did, he made mistakes.”

Norris, who won three races this term to give Verstappen some nervy moments, said by comparison Red Bull’s errors had not been as costly.

“The team made mistakes, but over the course of the season that’s very few in terms of what he’s done and that’s what makes him so good,” said the 25-year-old Briton.

“He’s not had a bad qualifying, he’s not had a bad race. I think his worst race was probably Budapest… He still finished fifth.

“He just gets everything out of the car every time. It’s always impressive to see. There’s always things to learn.”

Norris said after an error-strewn performance in Sao Paulo – a stark contrast to Verstappen’s outstanding winning drive – his title hopes were slim.

However, he believes he has learned lessons which will benefit him for next year’s title challenge.

“Saying congrats doesn’t hurt, but knowing the championship is 100 per cent over – you always have a little hope inside,” he said.

“He drove an incredible season and with the quickest car he dominated and when he didn’t he was still there and always on my heels.

“He made my life tough, but we made his tough at times, I’m sure, but he drove a better season.

“Today, for me, the race was pretty pants – bad pace, grip, tyre management, just a poor weekend from us.”