Life is filled with learning opportunities.
Lando Norris is coming to understand that this Formula 1 season.
After the United States Grand Prix, a race that was won by Charles Leclerc, the main point of conversation focused on a late-race incident between Norris and Max Verstappen, a battle on the track that saw Norris penalized for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. The five-second penalty dropped Norris into third place and left the McLaren driver reflecting on what it takes to beat Verstappen when speaking with the media last Sunday night in Austin.
“The thing is with Max you’ve got to commit, but people don’t understand that kind of thing. With Max, you can’t just go half-hearted,” said Norris to the media, including SB Nation, in Austin.
The two tangled again in Mexico City, with Verstappen being handed a pair of ten-second penalties by race officials at the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday. Norris delivered a second-place result, and with Verstappen finishing sixth, the McLaren driver gained ten points in his pursuit of Verstappen.
As you might expect, that incident was a big topic of discussion Sunday evening after the race.
“I don’t think I need to say much,” began Norris when asked in the FIA Press Conference about the on-track fight with Verstappen. “Yeah, I think it’s pretty self-explanatory on what happened. You know, I did everything I’ve been told in terms of what the rules are and the guidelines and all of this stuff, yet it just wasn’t to be. And, of course, he got some penalties for that. But, you know, I think… I always, like I said before in some of the interviews, I go into every race expecting a tough battle with Max.
“It’s clear that it doesn’t matter if he wins or second, his only job is to beat me in the race. And he’ll sacrifice himself to do that, like he did today. But I want to have good battles with him. I want to have those tough battles, like I’ve seen him have plenty of times,” continued Norris. “But fair ones. It’s always going to be on the line. It’s always going to be tough with Max. He’s never going to make anyone’s life easy, especially mine at this point of the year. But I think today was just … It was not fair, clean racing. And therefore, I think he got what he had coming to him.”
Norris was asked if he felt Verstappen was “harsher” in Mexico City than he was in Austin, and the McLaren driver agreed with the assessment. “Probably, yes,” said Norris.
In Austin Norris’ comments sounded like a driver who was realizing just how far one needs to go to beat a driver like Verstappen, reflected in Norris’ statement that one cannot be “half-hearted” when racing the Red Bull driver.
Sunday night in Mexico City, Norris was asked by Luke Smith of The Athletic if, given Verstappen’s willingness to “sacrifice” himself as Norris described, he could race Verstappen fairly down the stretch.
Norris hopes that he can.
“I’ve always fought fairly. That’s who I am. That’s who I am as a racer. That’s my way of driving every day. Maybe sometimes I’ve lost out because I’ve been too fair and not aggressive enough. And that’s where I have to find a better balance,” Norris began. “And those are the things, the changes I’ve said I’ve had to change since last weekend and the course of this year, that when you’re racing these top guys, you learn things and you have to understand better these balances of attacking, defending, risk management, aggression, all of those types of things.
“But, yeah, for me, I don’t need to worry about them. It’s got nothing to do with me, in a way. I mean, I’ll do what I can. I’ll race fairly. If he doesn’t, then things will go like they did today,” added Norris. “But I think he wants to race fairly. I hope he does. I think he enjoys those moments, too, when it’s a fair battle, but… Yeah, all I can do is keep doing what I’m doing. I feel like I’m doing a good job and we’ll see what happens.”
