Lando Norris has addressed Max Verstappen’s racing style, claiming that the Dutch driver has never done anything “untoward” towards him. The pair have carried their championship battle from 2024 into 2025, with Norris having the pace advantage from the start of the season this year.
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris have been friends off the race track for several years. Naturally, the nature of their relationship changed when the pair were locked in a direct battle for race wins and the championship last year. It was the first time Verstappen began seeing Norris as a threat.
The two drivers had numerous controversial moments in 2024, including at Austria, Austin and Mexico. Verstappen’s aggressive driving style came into question even during these moments last year. This chat has picked up in the media again, after the reigning world champion’s bizarre move on George Russell at the Spanish GP.
During a recent interview with The BBC, Andrew Benson asked Norris about how Verstappen’s approach to racing affects his off-track relationship with the Dutchman. Norris replied saying:
“I don’t think he’s done anything untoward towards me. He’s raced against me very, very toughly, as he has the right to do. He’s made my life very, very tough at times. And he has the right to do that. [via BBC]
“I’ve said it many times, I have a lot of respect for Max. The driver he is, the person he is, what he stands for all of the time. And what he’s achieved, his four world championships. That’s four more than me, and he’s had a lot more race wins than me.” he added.
Verstappen deliberately crashed into Russell’s Mercedes in Barcelona after his own team told him to let his rival through. This move resulted in a 10 second penalty, demoting the Dutchman from P5 to P10. Verstappen also received three penalty points for the move, meaning he now has 11, taking his tally one away from a race ban.
Lando Norris sheds light on teammate dynamic with Oscar Piastri
Lando Norris has claimed that he and Oscar Piastri put the McLaren team first, while racing on track. The 25-year-old says he still wants to race his teammate hard, but not at the cost of the team. Piastri currently leads the drivers’ championship, with Norris only 10 points behind in second.
Speaking during the aforementioned interview, Norris also claimed that he does not want his relationship with Piastri to turn sour.
“Everyone’s seen plenty of championships as team-mates turn sour and go in the wrong direction. And that normally leads to many things, like a domino effect of things starting to fail. And that’s what we don’t want.”
“We know we still want to race. We’re free to race against each other as individuals, but we also know our sole purpose is to race for McLaren, the team, the name we race under. And that’s something we’re both very proud of doing.” he added.
The two McLaren teammates are yet to have a straight battle for a race win in the 2025 season. But they did have a few controversial moments during the 2024 season. Tensions were high after the Hungarian GP for example. Norris was asked to let Piastri through at the Hungaroring, while he was leading the race. It remains to be seen how the two fight it out on track, when the inevitable moment does arrive.
