Norris: Verstappen “knows what he did wrong” in Mexico

Norris hasn’t spoken to Verstappen since the last race

Lando Norris says that he hasn’t spoken to Max Verstappen since their most recent on-track clash in the Mexico City GP – and he insists that the Dutchman “knows what he did wrong.”

Verstappen received two 10-second penalties for his moves on Norris when the McLaren driver tried to find a way past early in the race.

After taking the hit at his pit stop Verstappen finished sixth, while Norris earned second place and improved his position in the World Championship.

The pair frequently travel to races together, and talked after their collision in Austria earlier in the season. However Norris made it clear that this time, they have had no contact.

“No, we’ve not spoken,” he said. “I don’t think we need to. I’ve got nothing to say. I still have a lot of respect for Max and everything he does.

“Not respect for what he did last weekend, but respect for him as a person, and also what he’s achieved.

“But it’s not for me to speak to him. I’m not his teacher, I’m not his mentor or anything like that. Max knows what he has to do. He knows that he did wrong. Deep down he does, and it’s for him to change, not for me.”

Asked if their relationship had changed recently he said: “Not that I know of. I’ve not spoken to Max. It’s not something I need to speak to Max about.

“Max is probably one of the most capable drivers on the grid, if not the most, and he knows what he can and can’t do, and where the limits. He knows the changes he has to make.”

Meanwhile having had four days to process the events of Mexico Norris said he was happy with the way the FIA stewards dealt with the Verstappen incidents, which came after a weekend when driving guidelines were the main topic of conversation.

“I think the stewards did a good job,” he said when asked by this writer for his thoughts heading into the Interlagos weekend.

“I think they have a very difficult job, but they’ve done a good job. I think 99% of people who watch F1 and know F1 agree with that. So I think we’re happy from our side. I stayed out of trouble and did my job also, which is that.

“But every weekend is a new weekend, right? So I don’t know what to expect this weekend, obviously I hope for, or I expect, a cleaner battle than what we had.

“But it’s not up to me. I don’t make the rules. I don’t decide the penalties, I just drive. And the stewards did the race, and they did a good job.”

Norris says he won’t be changing his own approach to racing Verstappen.

“I think something I’ve done well my whole career is always normally stay out of trouble and keep the car in one piece,” he said. “All those little things add up over a championship, and over a season, especially in a cost cap season as well.

“But I think I’ve always had the mentality to want to race fair and clean, and sometimes I’ve been, I think I probably said it last weekend on the too-kind side, whether I was attacking or defending and things like that.

“I think I’ve always made good decisions from that side, and sometimes I’ve paid the price for not being aggressive enough. But the rest of it is not up to me, but I know how to keep the car in one piece.

“That’s something I’ve done for a while. Even when you don’t realise it, there are times when I had to avoid a potential crash, and maybe you don’t see it behind the TV and things like that. But inside the car, it’s ‘I’m only here because I avoided this,’ or avoided this person or that person.

“So there are more times than people realise that you go through those certain scenarios, and I think those are some of the challenges we have every now and then.

“But I’ll come into this weekend with a new expectation of hopefully we have clean, fair racing, and I think that’s what we should expect.”

McLaren boss Andrea Stella noted in Mexico that Norris had been told not to take justice into his hands on track, and leave it instead to the stewards.

However he downplayed the suggestion that he thinks about such things when driving.

“I’m very chilled, I’m very relaxed when I’m on track,” he said. “For me, that’s how I need to perform, is by being relaxed and not thinking about these things.

“Yeah, there’s two different sides, when you’re just driving, and driving quickly is one job, but staying out of trouble, not making contact, all of those things, is another task on top of it, I guess.

“I think I’ve always done a good job of staying out of trouble, whether it’s lap ones, turn, ones, any of these things, but also racing against your main competitors and rivals, it’s a big challenge, and I always expect it to be tough.

“I don’t want it to be easy. I never expect it to be easy. But my job is to make sure I see the finish line every time, and that’s what I got to do.”