George Russell is determined to push Max Verstappen in the title fight next season, and reckons Lando Norris should've made it a close battle in 2024.

Verstappen secured his fourth successive Drivers' Championship title in Las Vegas on Saturday night as he raced to an unassailable 63-point lead over Norris.

The McLaren driver was Verstappen's only threat this season and looked set to take the title fight all the way to Abu Dhabi when he slashed what had been Verstappen's 84-point lead at the midway point of the season after Silverstone to just 44 points after Brazil's Sprint.

However, 24 hours later it was over bar the shouting as Verstappen broke his winless streak as he raced from 17th on the grid to first in the Brazilian Grand Prix while mistakes cost Norris. The gap was back up to 62 points.

Verstappen only had to finish ahead of Norris in Las Vegas to guarantee a fourth World title and he did so, P5 in a Grand Prix won by Russell.

The Mercedes driver was bullish after his victory, his second for this season, and declared next year he'd give Verstappen a proper championship fight.

"I just want to make sure we get in that fight now," he told Viaplay, "because it's about time somebody gave him a proper fight. That's my plan, that's what I want to do.

"He's a fierce competitor and Red Bull are doing amazing but this championship probably should've gone down to the wire.

"You could argue that Max probably wasn't the favourite at one point and yet he wins it with races to go.

"So we need to get our stuff together to make it a bit more challenging."