Formula 1

The significance of Norris getting one over on Verstappen

by Scott Mitchell-Malm
5 min read

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Max Verstappen's careful answers after the Mexican Grand Prix implied even he knew he had crossed a line in his fight with Lando Norris - who said the world champion "got what he had coming to him".

Verstappen's pair of penalties and Norris's triumph over him in their own duel meant this race had a different ending to the United States GP just a week before, which had empowered Verstappen to race in his aggressive and uncompromising way and reaffirmed a feeling that he had Norris covered in wheel-to-wheel battle.

This will be significant, for the rest of 2024 and beyond.

After losing out in Austria earlier this year, then in Austin, Norris had been on the receiving end of hard lessons. He even went into the Mexico weekend admitting he hadn't been good enough compared to the Red Bull driver. But he emerged from it with a key battle going in his favour.

"I'm not happy today because of that," when asked by The Race about the significance of finally getting one over on Verstappen. "I'm happy because I'm P2.

"Austria, no one should have got a penalty. Austin, I don't think anyone should have got a penalty.

"[The Mexican GP] was another level on both of those cases. I was ahead of Max in the braking zone, past the apex. I am avoiding crashing. This is the difference.

"I can't speak for him, and maybe he'll say something different. But I think today was a step too far from both of those, and it was clear that the stewards agreed with that.

"So, I don't see it as a win or anything like this, but it's more that I hope Max acknowledges that he took it a step too far."

Norris, as previously mentioned, felt Verstappen "got what he had coming to him" with his 10-second time penalties, and Norris can draw confidence from this battle - psychologically in himself, and in F1's racing rulebook.

He followed McLaren team boss Andrea Stella's warning to avoid seeking justice himself, but he did make a more robust overtaking attempt. In that sense, Norris lived up to his pre-weekend promise of dialling up the aggression a little bit where appropriate.

And the fact the stewards came down on Verstappen, not once but twice, will reassure Norris that he can drive his way, rather than get sucked into crossing the line.

Because if he does things right, and stands his ground, and Verstappen transgresses, order will be restored by a third party.

Stella said he has had to reassure Norris: "Don't worry, it will be alright. Time is a gentleman."

That was after the focus in their fight turned to whether he was being pushed around by Verstappen. And Norris responded in Mexico exactly as he needed to.

"Lando can look at his own racing often looking at the half-empty glass in relation to what he could do," said Stella.

"But our conversation and our internal reviews have always been very clear: 'Lando, we like, we approve, we confirm the way you go racing'.

"It's not for you to go there trying to find justice yourself. You go racing in a fair, sportive way like you do, and then there needs to be a third party that is the stewarding, that will say whether some manoeuvres are correct or not.

"Don't be desperate. Don't have to prove anything. You go racing fair and square."

Maybe this will also result in Verstappen realising that Norris isn't a soft touch.

Norris felt that Verstappen would know he went too far with his retaliatory move into the sweeps.

That seemed to be the case when Verstappen contested the first clash was a "question mark" but didn't want to discuss the second one.

Ironically, one race after all the questions about whether Norris needed to get more aggressive, maybe a single well-judged battle that's gone in his favour changes things.

If Norris sticks with a non-retaliatory approach, could it even become an advantage?

He now knows how to outsmart Verstappen. He knows where the limit is. And he knows Verstappen will go to extremes in response.

If Verstappen's going to make it impossible for Norris to pull off moves like Carlos Sainz did in Mexico - because Verstappen would probably defend that more aggressively - then Norris is going to have to keep getting ambitious and if that forces a reckoning then Mexico showed Norris can come out on top that way.

"I've always fought fairly," said Norris. "That's who I am. That's my way of driving every day.

"Maybe sometimes I've lost out because I've been too fair and not aggressive enough. And that's where I have to find a better balance.

"And those are the things, the changes I've said I've had to change since last weekend and the course of this year, that when you're racing these top guys, you learn things and you have to understand better these balances of attacking, defending, risk management, aggression, all of those types of things.

"I'll do what I can. I'll race fairly. If he doesn't, then things will go like they did today. But I think he wants to race fairly - I hope he does, I think he enjoys those moments, too, when it's a fair battle.

"All I can do is keep doing what I'm doing. I feel like I'm doing a good job and we'll see what happens."

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