Max Verstappen sympathizes with Lando Norris by recalling his own incident from 2017
Max Verstappen reflects on penalties, recalling his 2017 overtake on Kimi Raikkonen and Lando Norris' recent sanction at the US GP.
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Max Verstappen and Lando Norris (via IMAGO)
Lando Norris had a difficult start at the US Grand Prix despite starting from pole. He lost the lead to Charles Leclerc at Turn 1 and later found himself battling Max Verstappen on lap 52. Both drivers went off-track during their fight, but Norris was penalized five seconds for gaining an advantage.
Max Verstappen feels the penalty for Norris was fully justified as the Dutchman has faced a similar fate during the 2017 F1 season. His last-lap overtake on Kimi Raikkonen at the 2017 US Grand Prix caused quite a stir. The Dutchman passed Raikkonen’s Ferrari for third but went off-track at Turn 17.
The FIA hit him with a five-second penalty for gaining an unfair advantage, which dropped him off the podium. Interestingly, this mirrors Norris’s recent battle with Verstappen, but with the roles reversed as it was the Briton who received the penalty.
The reigning world champion claimed that the decision to penalize the Briton was fair as he was in the same shoes before.
I think it’s quite clear, you can’t overtake outside of the white line. I mean, I got done for it also here in, I think, 2017 or whatever it was, so I lost my podium like that.
Max Verstappen said (via GPblog.com)
Lando Norris later defended himself, claiming that he felt justified in not returning the place since he believed he had maintained his position ahead of the Dutchman. Meanwhile, Verstappen admitted the race was tough, with his tires and the situation making it hard to maintain pace.
I just remained calm, tried to do the best I could after that to bring the car to the end because it was not easy with the tyres and the situation that I was in. But overall, I still really enjoyed that battle that we had.
Max Verstappen added
Max Verstappen shares his perspective for going wide in turn 1 at the US GP
At the United States Grand Prix, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen started on the front row, both eager to compete. Throughout the race, they battled for position, but Charles Leclerc capitalized on an opportunity to take the lead while both drivers lost ground.
Verstappen aimed to overtake Norris and as he attempted to pass by taking a tight line into a wide corner, he went wide, which opened the door for Leclerc to slip through and claim the top spot. The three-time-world champion ultimately secured second place, finishing ahead of the Brit.
There was a gap on the inside, so I went for it. That corner is very wide, so it gives you a lot of opportunity of going very wide or try to go really tight. I chose for that option, and I still came out second. Started second, came out second turn one. This time it was Charles in front.
Max Verstappen explained
The United States Grand Prix was a significant improvement for Red Bull, when compared to their previous races. Team principal Christian Horner emphasized that the outcome aligned with their hopes after introducing new upgrades.
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Gaurang Kadam
(535 Articles Published)