Lando Norris called Max Verstappen an “idiot” and said the defending world champion did not give him enough room in the contentious opening metres of the Italian Grand Prix.
Verstappen started in pole position, with Norris in second but with the inside line into the opening corner. Norris had a strong launch and was level with the Dutchman before the track narrowed and the McLaren driver was forced on to the grass.
Norris looked to have the better line after rejoining the track, before Verstappen cut the chicane to retain the lead.
Verstappen overtakes Norris before going on to win by 19 seconds at Monza
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“What’s this idiot doing,” an angry Norris asked on the team radio. “He’s put me on the grass and he’s just cut the corner.”
Gianpiero Lambiase, Verstappen’s trusted race engineer at Red Bull, suggested his driver give the position back after his lead was placed under review by the stewards. He did so and therefore avoided further punishment.
By lap four, Verstappen had used his better race pace to overtake Norris around the outside of turn 1 and reclaim the lead. He then controlled the race to register his first victory since Imola in May.
After the race, Norris told Sky Sports: “Well, all four of my wheels were not on track so I’ll take it as a no [I wasn’t given enough room]. But, yeah, I also expect it to be like this [against Max] in a way. I expect a tough, on-the-limitish defence. I don’t think you can just push people into the dirt. He knew I was alongside from the very beginning. I had a better run.
Verstappen finds Norris in a more conciliatory mood before the podium ceremony
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“Yeah, you can easily just call it racing in the end. You also just can’t push people off the track but, yeah, then I had a better run… I braked later into turn 1. I committed a bit more. I just made the corner. I fought well in the first lap. I did everything I could. We just didn’t have the pace. We were just too slow.”
Later, in the podium finishers’ press conference alongside Verstappen and his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, after the adrenaline had abated somewhat, Norris said: “It was a little bumpy at one point, but it was what I expected. It was close and it was fun racing.”
He narrowed his deficit in the title race to 31 points, finishing one place ahead of the championship leader, Piastri, with eight races of the season to go. Verstappen is a distant third and it is expected that, in the forthcoming races, McLaren will reassert their dominance on the tight and twisting street circuits that better suit their car.