Max Verstappen says he "meant it" after he told Lando Norris his "time would come" after the British driver missed out on last year's title.
Verstappen and Norris shared a warm exchange after the Dutchman became a four-time world champion in Las Vegas 12 months ago and, a year on, Norris has an opportunity to be on the verge of his maiden F1 title.
With three rounds to go, Norris is 24 points ahead of McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri in the Drivers' Championship with Verstappen 49 points adrift of the leader.
"What I said last year, I meant - simple as that. There's nothing that I lied about," Verstappen said on Thursday ahead of this weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix.
"It's quite clear, right, this season. Sometimes, you just need to be a bit patient and wait for your moment."
Norris has dominated the last two rounds in Mexico and Brazil to pull away in the championship with momentum on his side going into the triple-header which will conclude the season.
Verstappen, who has been friends with Norris for several years, says the McLaren driver's weekends "seem to be really coming together very nicely".
He added: "Every year you also grow and learn from past mistakes or weekends where you think you could have done a better job, and that goes for everyone. It's not only Lando in this case."
If Norris outscores Verstappen by nine points, or more, the Red Bull driver will officially be out of championship contention with Qatar and Abu Dhabi to come.
Verstappen was hoping to emulate Michael Schumacher by becoming just the second driver in F1 history to win five consecutive titles.
Prior to his incredible comeback drive from the pit lane to the podium in Brazil, Verstappen stated he could "forget" about winning this year's title but he slightly changed his tune in Las Vegas.
"I'm not really thinking about it too much, because there's also not much that I can do. We need a lot of luck now until the end to even have an opportunity. So I, personally, don't think about that," he said.
"It's a lot of points, and I just want to have a good weekend, good weekends till the end. Then, after Abu Dhabi, we close the book, have a bit of time off, and we go again next year."
For Verstappen to realistic stand a chance of an extraordinary title fightback, he will likely need to win Sunday's Las Vegas Grand Prix with both Norris and Oscar Piastri off the podium.
Las Vegas has been McLaren's weakest track over the last two years, with no top-five result in qualifying or the race for either driver.
George Russell led a dominant Mercedes one-two last year in the cold conditions which are forecast again this weekend. And Russell expects McLaren will be off the pace again, while Verstappen will be Mercedes' biggest threat.
He explained: "I think this would be a circuit where McLaren would struggle more than usual. When you look at their performance in Canada, it was the only time they weren't on the podium, and their performance in Baku - the only [other] time they weren't on the podium.
"This circuit has some similar characteristics to those tracks: the coldness, type of tarmac, the C5 tyre. And obviously low downforce - Baku is the same as Las Vegas.
"But, there are always these surprises. I think it's so close in Q3 now between so many teams. If you can do a magic lap and you can start on pole position, your whole weekend changes. So they'll be there or thereabouts, but I think Red Bull probably have a better chance."
Friday November 21
12am: Las Vegas GP Practice One (session starts at 12.30am)*
1.55am: F1 Academy Practice*
2.50am: Team Principals' Press Conference
3.45am: Las Vegas GP Practice Two (session starts at 4am)*
5.25am: F1 Academy Qualifying*
6.10am: The F1 Show*
Saturday November 22
12.15am: Las Vegas GP Practice Three (session starts at 12.30am)*
2.10am: F1 Academy Race One*
3am: Las Vegas GP Qualifying build-up*
4am: LAS VEGAS GP QUALIFYING*
6am: Ted's Qualifying Notebook*
Sunday November 23
12.15am: F1 Academy Race Two
2.30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Las Vegas GP build-up*
4am: THE LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX*
6am: Chequered Flag: Las Vegas GP reaction*
7am: Ted's Notebook*
*also live on SportNews Main Event
Formula 1's thrilling title race continues with the Las Vegas Grand Prix this weekend, live on SportNews F1.
