Norris expected Verstappen’s “not very clean driving” in Mexico F1 GP

Lando Norris says he “knew what to expect” after being on the receiving end of “not very clean driving” by Max Verstappen in Formula 1’s Mexican Grand Prix.

One week after the pair fought hard in Austin, a duel for which Norris was penalised for overtaking his title rival off track, Verstappen and Norris again battled in the early stages of the Mexico City race.

Norris attacked Verstappen for second place around the outside of the Turn 4 left-hander, which would yield him the inside for the following switchback.

As at Austin, Norris was pushed off by Verstappen, but because this time the McLaren driver was ahead at the apex it was Verstappen who was penalised. Using the same racing guidelines that had dominated the conversation over the past week, the stewards handed Verstappen a 10-second penalty.

Verstappen then attempted to retaliate at Turn 8 and went off while repassing Norris, sending both cars wide and forcing Norris to take evasive action. The stewards handed the Dutchman another 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

Norris was vocal on the team radio about what he felt was “dangerous driving” by Verstappen and said afterwards he wasn’t surprised by his title rival’s moves.

“I knew what to expect. I didn’t want to expect such a thing because I respect Max a lot as a driver, but I was ready to expect something like this,” he said. “This is not very clean driving, in my opinion, but I avoided it, and it was a good race.

“The first few laps, a lot of it was just trying to stay in the race and avoid any crashes.”

McLaren CEO Zak Brown congratulated the stewards for taking action after the British team had been vocal about Verstappen’s racing style for a while.

“Probably not enough,” he commented about Verstappen’s penalties to Sky Sports F1. “I mean, it’s getting a bit ridiculous. I applaud the FIA stewards, enough’s enough. Let’s just have some good clean racing moving forward.

Asked if he was satisfied with the FIA’s response, he replied: “I think the stewards are on it. That’s clear by the penalties that they assessed. So, I don’t think we need to do anything, just let the stewards do their job. They did a good job this weekend.”