Lando Norris says Max Verstappen’s racing was not fair in the Mexico City Grand Prix and his title rival “got what he had coming to him” with the penalties he received.
Verstappen was handed a 10s time penalty for forcing Norris off track in a battle at Turn 4 — when he was defending the inside line against the McLaren — and then another 10s penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage as he took both cars wide trying to re-pass Norris four corners later. Norris felt a similar incident in Austin a week ago went unpunished.
“I think it’s pretty self-explanatory on what happened,” Norris said. “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 … 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. 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. 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. Therefore, I think he got what he had coming to him.”
Norris says he doesn’t see a need to talk to Verstappen about his racing, as the pair maintain a good relationship off-track, and that he appreciates the championship leader has the ability to remain aggressive defending his 47-point advantage.
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“We talk about different things,” he said. “It’s not my job, it’s got nothing to do with me in a way. Today I felt like I just had to avoid collisions and that’s not what you feel like you want to do in a race.
“He’s in a very powerful position in the championship. He’s a long way ahead. He has nothing to lose. People can say it’s the other way around, like he’s got everything to lose and it’s all for me. But it’s not the case, you know.
“It’s not for me. I’m focused on myself. I’m doing my own job, which was a good job today. I’m happy with all of this and I’m happy with my whole weekend, but it’s not my job to control him. He knows how to drive, and I’m sure he knows that today was probably a bit over the limit.”
Finishing second to Carlos Sainz by 4.7s in Sunday’s race, Norris believes he actually had the fastest car in race trim but lost too much time early on behind Verstappen.
“I’m happy with P2. Normally I wouldn’t be, but I think on a day like today, I was happy,” the Briton said. “Things looked like they could go a lot worse, especially the first part of the race, so to keep the car in one piece and to kind of keep the race alive was important. The pace was extremely strong.
“A shame that we lost so much in the first stint with some of the battles that we had. If I was a bit more in there and in the mix then I think our opportunities could have been even better. Carlos drove the first stint very well and the gap was already 15s, so I had a lot to try and catch up.
“The car was strong. Our pace, especially in the second stint — not really the first, but the second stint — was very, very good and kind of gave me a bit of hope again that we were competitive compared to the Ferraris. Until then… They’ve been pretty dominant this weekend, so a good race. Would have loved to be on the top step and it looks like a cool podium here. It was a cool podium, but I’m very satisfied with the P2.”