Max Verstappen speaks out after crash with Lando Norris: 'He pulls very aggressively'



Verstappen commented, "A lot of times what Lando does is he pulls off very aggressively and the big risk is there. When I see that he's moving like that, I'm already on my braking and at that moment I never saw him." He added that while the start was good for the Red Bull, the car's performance dropped off noticeably in the second half of the race, making it difficult to drive. "The stops were really bad, we gave away several seconds and got Lando into the fight. Otherwise, with those six or seven seconds it would have been different," criticized the Dutchman. Despite the incident and the penalty, Verstappen managed to finish in fifth place, although visibly frustrated with the development of the race.

For his part, Lando Norris called Verstappen's maneuver "reckless" and "desperate," arguing that there are rules that must be respected. "There are rules about what you can't do and what you can do. He was doing things you can't do and he wasn't penalized. If I have a battle with Max, I know what to expect. I expect aggressiveness, going to the limit and that kind of thing. All three times he was doing things that can easily cause an accident. And in a way it was a bit reckless, it seemed a bit desperate on his part."

Norris added: "He doesn't need to be desperate, he's got a lot of wins. But he was a little bit desperate to do what he could to not let me through and I know he's going to be aggressive. So, in a way, I'm not surprised, but I was expecting a hard, fair and respectful race."

The incident between the two drivers has made it clear that tensions on the track can escalate quickly, and both have strong opinions about what happened.