“Ruined his own race,” Lando Norris gives unapologetic response to Max Verstappen over Miami GP fiasco

Lando Norris remained critical of Max Verstappen's controversial tricks at the Miami GP which sabotage the Dutchman's own race in the end.

“Ruined his own race,” Lando Norris gives unapologetic response to Max Verstappen over Miami GP fiasco

Lando Norris and Max Verstappen (via Red Bull content pool)

Max Verstappen and Lando Norris occupied the front row at the Miami GP and were looking forward to an enticing battle from turn 1 itself. As predicted, the two drivers ignited the battle for victory from the very beginning of the race. However, Norris couldn’t keep his position and desperately fell below the leading pack. Still, he climbed the grid steadily and defeated Verstappen by the end. Now, the Briton has issued a shocking statement against the 27-year-old’s performance in Miami.

Max Verstappen didn’t hesitate to race with his elbows out racing style in Miami. Still, the Dutchman couldn’t keep up with McLaren’s superior pace and had to succumb to a P4 finish after a missed pit stop under virtual safety car. Lando Norris and Verstappen came very close to colliding and ruining their race, but prevented a mishap by a very small margin. Norris finished ahead of the Dutchman in the end and couldn’t hold back from criticizing the latter’s dirty tactics on the track.

Lando Norris asserted that Max Verstappen was racing very hard on the track. Norris further added that it was the Dutchman who decided to fight it dirty on the track and sabotage his own race. The 25-year-old didn’t hold back from calling out Verstappen on his controversial driving style at the Miami GP. He clearly specified that the 27-year-old ruined his own race, and there was no one else to blame for it. A rather bold statement showing that the Briton was not afraid of speaking his mind about Verstappen.

[Max was] fighting hard. It’s up to him to do that. He’s ruined his own race. He’s not racing very smart.

Lando Norris said in a post race conference

Despite passing Verstappen with rather ease, Lando Norris couldn’t bridge the gap to his Australian counterpart, Oscar Piastri. The Briton highlighted that he gave it his all in the final stretch against his teammate. However, there was still a long way to go, and he couldn’t quite come out on top against Piastri. Still, both drivers maximized points for McLaren over the American weekend and did not get in the way of one another in scoring the points. Now, the team will hope to keep up with the same development over the year and achieve both championships with ease.

I gave it a good shot when I got into second place and there was a long way to go, I think still 25 or 30 laps at that point. I only probably stopped pushing really in the last four or five laps but the gap went from like almost 10 to to four or three almost, so I did all I could.

Lando Norris added

Lando Norris claims ‘impossible’ to catch up to Oscar Piastri

Oscar Piastri has remained a very strong contender to Lando Norris for the race win since the beginning of the 2025 season. The Aussie has won over 4 races this year already and is leading the drivers’ title. Norris, despite showing great promise, is unable to perform at the level of Piastri and overcome him in terms of performance on the track. The 24-year-old extended his lead at the Miami GP by over 16 points over his British counterpart. Now, the 25-year-old has accepted that it isn’t easy to compete with his teammate in the race.

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris (via Motorsportweek)
McLaren drivers, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris (via Motorsportweek)

Lando Norris pointed out he tried to overtake Oscar Piastri and come close to him for the entirety of the race. However, Piastri gained the race lead and never looked back and built a massive gap between him and the trailing drivers. As such, Norris was unable to catch up to him by the end, let alone overtake him. So, the 25-year-old accepted that it was impossible to overtake the Aussie as the latter was simply in a league of his own. The Briton felt that there were fewer laps left as he could’ve overcome his teammates if the race had gone on for a little longer.

I tried the whole race until the very end so I kept belief during the whole race, but Oscar’s driving. He’s quick to catch but it always pretty much going to be impossible, but I gave it a good shot. I almost got there, just not enough laps.

Lando Norris noted

McLaren is currently unrivalled in terms of performance and has no competition from the rivals at the forefront. Despite continuous efforts from the likes of George Russell, Max Verstappen, and others, they are simply unable to keep up with their pace. Hence, by the looks of it, Woking has nailed the chassis development bang on in the final year of the ground-effect era. Still, it would be too soon to write off the chances of Verstappen and others to provide tough competition to the Papaya Squad towards the end of the season.

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