Lando Norris says he knows what to expect from “dangerous” Max Verstappen after his world championship rival was hit with 20 seconds of penalties as the pair came together at the Mexico Grand Prix.
Norris finished second – four places ahead of the Dutchman – taking 10 points out of Verstappen’s championship lead and will head to Brazil next weekend 47 points adrift with 120 points still left to fight for.
A week on from Norris being demoted behind Verstappen after receiving a penalty for overtaking his rival off the track in Austin, it was the Dutchman who fell foul of the stewards as he drove the McLaren man off the track.
McLaren were unsuccessful in contesting Norris’ penalty earlier this week but it took just 10 laps for the title rivals to clash again at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Norris went round the outside of Verstappen at turn five and was forced wide before the Red Bull driver left the track at turn eight, with Norris again having to leave the circuit.
The stewards hit Verstappen with two separate 10-second penalties for the two corner incidents, with Norris saying “this guy is dangerous” over the team radio.
“I don’t think I need to say much. It is pretty self-explanatory on what happened,” Norris said.
“I did everything I have been told in terms of what the rules are. I go into every race expecting a tough battle with Max. It is clear it doesn’t matter if he wins or is second, he just wants to beat me in the race.
“He sacrifices himself to do that, like he did today. I want to have tough battles but fair ones. It is always going to be tough with Max. Today was not fair, clean racing so therefore he got the penalty.”
Norris said he is a “fair racer” and believes Verstappen is not concerned with his own finishing position, as long as he gets the better of his title rival.
“Probably (he was tougher this week). Today I felt like I had to avoid collisions and that’s not what you want to have to do in a race,” Norris added.
“He is in a very powerful position in the championship. He has nothing to lose. I am just focused on myself, it is not my job to control (him) he knows how to drive. I think he knows that today was a bit over the limit.”
Pole-sitter Carlos Sainz cruised to victory at the high-altitude circuit as Norris produced a superb final stint to close down Charles Leclerc and claim second.
Verstappen drove back through the field after serving his penalties to finish sixth, with Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and George Russell fourth and fifth.
The three-time world champion insists he is more concerned by the lack of pace from his Red Bull car than the penalties he received.
“Yeah, 20 seconds is a lot but I am not going to cry about it and I am also not going to share my opinion,” Verstappen said.
“Turn four was more of a question mark, turn eight it is what it is. But that is not my problem, my problem is that we are too slow. That is why I am being put in those kind of positions.”
Verstappen continues to believe he is driving the way that he needs to, despite his hefty sanction.
“I just drive how I think you have to drive. Last week that was alright, this week 20 second penalty,” he added. “It is what it is. Life goes on. I just keep racing.”
What happened?
Verstappen and Norris collided on the 10th lap of the Mexican Grand Prix when the McLaren driver attempted to take second place on the entry of Turn Four, just one lap after Verstappen had lost the lead of the race to Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
With Norris forced across the grass as he cut Turn Five he emerged from the corner in front of Verstappen, who responded by launching his car inside into Turn Seven, resulting in both cars going off the track and Norris taking avoiding action to prevent a high-speed collision and cutting Turn 8.
The FIA stewards took a dim view of Verstappen’s defensive tactics, and elected to not only penalise him with a 10-second penalty for originally forcing Norris off-track, but to punish him again with the same sanction for the subsequent Turn Seven move.
The incident came seven days on from their controversial battle in Texas, which saw Norris punished with a five-second penalty for overtaking Verstappen while off the track after both had gone off.
Norris’s protests that he was forced off by Verstappen releasing the brakes and making no attempt to complete the corner within track limits fell on deaf ears on that occasion, but the Dutchman was not so lucky this time around as the blame was laid firmly at his door.
What did Verstappen say?
On Red Bull’s team radio, Verstappen and his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase appeared unsurprised by the punishment. “Max, for info you’ve been given a 10-second penalty for forcing Lando off the road at Turn Four,” said Lambiase.
“Ten? That’s quite impressive,” responded Verstappen.
“There was a lot of whinging,” added Lambiase, in reference to Norris’s team radio. “A lot.”
After the second penalty arrived, Lambiase said: “Max, update, you’re been given another 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage at Turn Eight.”
This time, Verstappen returned fire: “And how about him then, Turn Four? That’s fine then? That’s silly man.”
What did Norris say?
After managing to finish second to cut 10 points into Verstappen’s lead, Norris addressed the incident in his post-race interview. “I knew what to expect,” he said. “I didn’t want to expect such a thing because I respect Max as a driver but I was ready to expect something like this – this is not very clean driving in my opinion.
“I avoided it and it was a good race. I just keep my head down. I am doing my best, we are doing a very good job as a team. I think today we were probably the quickest in the end. We’ll keep pushing [for the constructors’].”
“I respect Max a lot,” Norris told Sky Sports. “I look forward to having battles with him, I want to have them, it makes me smile and it is what I love about racing. It is why I do it in a way but things like today are a bit too far.
“We both could be out of the race and I do not think that is how you should race. Maybe some people will disagree and say I am wrong. Today was a step too far and I think Max will know that, I hope and we can go ahead and have some clean fair battles. I look forward to them.”
What was the reaction?
McLaren CEO Zak Brown believed Verstappen’s 20-second penalty should have been harsher. “Probably not enough,” Brown said when asked about Verstappen’s penalty. “It’s getting a bit ridiculous now, so I applaud the FIA stewards. Enough is enough.
“Let’s just have some good, clean racing going forward. I think the stewards are on it. I think that’s clear by the penalties that they assessed. I don’t think we need to do anything [more] just let the stewards do the jobs they’re doing.”
Sky Sports F1 commentator Martin Brundle had no sympathy for Verstappen, laying the blame on his shoulders after seeing replays of the clash. “I’m sorry, Max. That was outrageous,” said Brundle.
Rival driver George Russell, when told of Verstappen’s 20 seconds worth of penalties, simply responded: “Wow”.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner added: “Max didn’t leave the track at turn four and then at seven Lando opened the door very late, they both ran off there. I think we’re going to get into very dangerous territory at what point is a dive bomb going to be ok.
“The FIA and the drivers need to sit down and [decide] what is acceptable and what isn’t. I thought two 10-seconds [penalties] was a bit harsh today.
“You’ve always got to play to the rules. We’ll look and learn from the race. More important for us today we just didn’t have the pace. Our race pace was nowhere compared to the Ferrari and McLarens.”
