Norris acknowledged he could have won in Canada two weeks ago, had he made the decision to pit immediately when the first of two safety cars was deployed.

“Max shouldn’t have won last weekend in Montreal but he was the most consistent through the race, made least mistakes as a driver and a team and came out on top,” Norris said.

“We should have boxed (pitted) on the safety car. George (Russell of Mercedes) had the quickest car and if he didn’t make a couple of mistakes, which all drivers do, he should have probably also had a chance of winning the race.

“It just shows that when Max hasn’t had the best car, he still shows what he is capable of doing.

“Now it’s even more important to get the strategy right and the smaller things correct because when the cars are so close on pace those things make a bigger difference.”

Norris said he expected this weekend’s race in Spain to be another close fight between the top three or four teams, after a difficult weekend for Ferrari in Montreal.

“We have been good at all of them so far so I don’t expect things to change too much,” Norris said.

“I expect it to be close. Red Bull probably a bit more back to where they should be. Ferrari after last weekend back to where they should be.

“We have been the most consistently ‘there’ team. We’ve not suddenly been quickest and easily dominating a weekend like we’ve seen Red Bull and Ferrari do.

“But we have been a very good all-rounder so far, which over the course of a season is exactly what we want and is a good strength from where we were last year, when we were very up and down.”

Verstappen said: “I don’t think it will be like the beginning of the season (when he dominated) but we know this is a track that our car should suit a bit more.

“I’m aware everyone has been catching up a lot but compared to the last few races, this should give us a better chance.

“McLaren have been quick everywhere and they are going to be quick here. Mercedes and Ferrari have made good steps forward and should be quite decent here.”

Russell said Spain would “be a real test” for Mercedes as to whether their progress in Canada would continue. “If we are fast this weekend, that bodes really well for the season,” he said.

Team-mate Lewis Hamilton said he was “optimistic”.