MEXICO CITY – Lando Norris said title rival Max Verstappen’s driving at the Mexico City Grand Prix went beyond what was acceptable.
Norris was forced wide at Turn 4 and then had to drive off track to avoid Verstappen completely at Turn 8 as they battled for position early in the race.
Verstappen was handed two 10-second penalties for the incidents.
“I knew what to expect,” Norris said immediately after the race. “I didn’t want to expect such a thing, because I respect Max a lot as a driver, but I was ready to expect something like this. This is not very clean driving in my opinion, but I avoided it and it was a good race.”
Norris finished second, while the penalties dropped Verstappen down the order, finishing sixth — Norris is now 47 points behind with four races to go.
The McLaren driver elaborated on his stance on Verstappen in the media pen after the race.
“You know, I always go into the races and expect good battles and fair battles, and of course I expect a tough battle with Max… there’s just… I don’t want to complain about it because this is what I love, I love going into races and knowing that we’re gonna have a good battle today and he’s gonna put up a good fight and all of those things.
“But things like today are just a bit too far in my opinion, and obviously in the stewards’ opinion too, and I would say probably the majority of peoples opinions, and that’s just not how I think many people like to go racing.
“I respect Max a lot, I want to race hard against him, but if I didn’t do what I did today and avoid him I’d probably be out of the race you know. It’s tough, but I played my cards well, I knew what to expect in many ways, and yeah, points for me are good at the minute and we’ll just keep our heads down.”
Norris said he is not getting carried away with his championship chances.
