Lando Norris’ telling comment on Max Verstappen’s style as Red Bull star loses out

Lando Norris had to take evasive action to avoid a first-lap crash at the Miami Grand Prix with Max Verstappen continuing to be aggressive – only to lose out come the end

Lando Norris claimed when you race Max Verstappen you “crash or don’t pass” after the pair nearly collided in Turn Two in Miami. The McLaren driver was eyeing an overtake on the opening lap, but had to take evasive action and fell down the order to sixth.

The Red Bull driver, as is often the case, aggressively defended his position after locking up at the first corner and battled hard to retain the lead. He was able to stay in front of the pack with Norris paying the price initially.

The Brit eventually recovered to finish second, passing Verstappen down one of the long straights in Miami, with the Dutchman eventually ending up in fourth despite starting on pole position.

Verstappen’s style is nothing new but Norris has been on the receiving end on more than one occasion. They infamously clashed in Austria last year, which forced the McLaren to retire, and the Englishman suggested that drivers can be left with little alternative but to back out unless they want their race ended.

He said: “What can I say? If I don’t go for it, people will complain. If I go for it, people complain. So you can’t win. It is the way it is with Max, it’s crash or don’t pass. You actually get it really right and put him in a perfect position, then you can just about get there. I paid the price for not doing a good enough job today. I’m still happy with second.”

READ MORE: Martin Brundle lets Kimi Antonelli know his true thoughts after Miami GP incidentREAD MORE: George Russell reveals seven-figure sum he’s paying back to his parents and reason why

Oscar Piastri was the first McLaren to get past Verstappen and the Australian quickly established a comfortable lead out front enroute to his fourth win of the season. Piastri further added to his championship lead with the McLarens claiming another 1-2.

Norris concedes that he “paid the price” for his first lap incident with the Red Bull driver as he was unable to challenge for the win. However, he claimed that Verstappen’s desire to fight so hard against the McLarens ultimately cost him with George Russell landing third place.

The 25-year-old said: “He’s fighting hard, but it’s up to him to do that. He’s ruining his own race. He’s not racing very smart.” Norris added: “He probably could have finished third today, and he didn’t because of that. So yeah, he’s fighting, that is always expected, but that’s what it is.”

Verstappen now trails Piastri by 32 points with just one race win to his name this season. The Dutchman though didn’t seem bothered by missing out on the podium – claiming the third or fourth were hardly different when he was eyeing the win.

He said: “Honestly it’s not frustrating at all (to lose a podium). We are here to win and today we were miles off that, so it doesn’t really matter if you are a P3 or P4. I had nothing to lose, so I also just wanted to have a bit of fun out there.”