Miami GP: Lando Norris says against Max Verstappen, it is “crash or not pass”

Lando Norris again questioned Max Verstappen's cycling behavior after Miami Grand Prix and claimed that it was a case of “crash or not over” if he tried to overtake him, and that the incumbent Formula 1 world champion “whatever he wants” can do.

Norris became second place in Miami on Sunday, but could have been a decisive racing victory, if not for a first Lapp dance with Verstappen, his violent title competitor from last year.

The British driver was in round 2 next to the Red Bull before he was forced wide and from the route, and fell back to sixth place. The incident was found by Race Stewards, but when Norris was not in front of the corner before Verstappen, no punishment was issued.

McLarens later passed away, but Norris was not sufficiently close to teammate Oscar Piatri, who won his fourth racing victory of the season, and expanded his lead from the championship.

“As always, Max had a good fight and I paid the price, but that's the way it is,” said Norris immediately after the race.

“What can I say? If I don't choose to complain. People complain that people complain, so they cannot win.

“But it's like Max is, it's crash or not over.

“If you don't really understand it and put it in the perfect position, you can only get there.”

Norris often met with Verstappen last year, the most controversial in the Grand Prix in Mexico City, where the Dutch two separate 10-second time penalties were presented for his antics.

Norris expanded to Sky Sports about the incident in Miami and said without acting, he would have been “hard” in the wall.

When asked whether this was unfair, he said: “It shouldn't decide.”

When asked what he should do instead, he said: “Qualify in advance.

“We both passed him … You just have to be in the perfect place. In the end he just let me go, he didn't even have a fight. It only depends on how much he wants to fight you.

“It's Max, he does a good job, he can do what he wants.”

Norris also insisted that he had not regretted his race against Verstappen and that he still had a positive weekend, especially for a Saudi Arabian family doctor, in which he crashed in qualifying.

“There is a gap, I have to make myself. I will not return, I'm here to drive.

“It is still a very good weekend. I'm still not in the happiest place and I have to be there against the best. I will always pour away, but it was a positive weekend. I'm still happy. There is always next time.”