Norris makes ‘can’t push’ rivals accusation against ‘idiot’ Verstappen
Lando Norris: I don't think you can push people into the dirt
Having called Max Verstappen an “idiot” as they raced for the lead at the Italian Grand Prix, Lando Norris says drivers “can’t just” go around pushing rivals off the track.
Verstappen and Norris lined up on the front row of the Monza grid with the Red Bull driver on pole position after his record-breaking lap in qualifying beat Norris’ best by 0.077s.
Lando Norris: What’s this idiot doing?
Heading down to Turn 1, Verstappen moved over to the right side of the track to cover off Norris who puts wheel in the grass to avoid a collision.
The Briton, though, didn’t lose too much speed and challenged the Dutchman into the chicane where Verstappen held onto the lead, but did so by cutting it.
“What’s this idiot doing?” Norris complained over the radio. “He’s put me in the grass and then he’s just cut the corner.”
Verstappen told Red Bull that Norris had “let the brakes go on purpose”, but he was told by his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to “give back the position”.
He did that at the end of Lap 1 before retaking the lead at the beginning of Lap 4 to set up his third grand prix victory of the F1 2025 championship with Norris second at the line.
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Although Race Control did note the incident, no action was taken as Verstappen gave the position back to the McLaren driver.
Norris says he didn’t expect a battle against Verstappen to be anything but “tough”.
“It was a little bumpy at one point, but it was what I expected. It was close and it was fun racing. Tough, again, as expected,” he said in the post-race press conference.
“Enjoyable. It’s what I probably enjoy more than anything, these kinds of battles. It was nice to go out on top for a couple of laps, but it didn’t last very long.”
He went on to call his battle with Verstappen “nerve-rackingly close and exciting”, but stopped short of revealing whether he felt it was fair racing on Verstappen’s part.
“It’s not my decision in the end,” he said. “Got nothing to say. It was good.
“The main part I said was nerve-rackingly close was when he overtook me into Turn 1 on the outside, on lap two or three, whatever it was. That’s the one where it’s like, who wants to brake the latest.
“But I knew being on the inside that Max is in a much stronger position than I am. He can afford to be a lot more on the edge and aggressive than I can. I can’t afford to lose a front wing or have a little bit of damage, whatever it might be.
“I felt like I took the risks that needed to be taken and did my part, but just not quick enough.”
However, speaking to Sky F1, the McLaren driver had a little more to say about the reigning World Champion’s antics.
“Well, all four wheels were not on the track, so I’ll take it as a no, but I also expect it to be like this in a way,” he said.
“I expect a tough on-the-limit-ish defence. I mean, I don’t think you can push people into the dirt. He knew I was alongside from the very beginning, I had the better run.
“You can easily just call it racing in the end, you also just can’t push people off the track.”
As for Verstappen, he said “yeah” it was a fun tussle with his 2024 title rival.
“There was a lot going on after the first lap, even into Turn 1,” he added. “I think Oscar and Charles were fighting as well. I could see in my mirror.
“So it took two, three laps to settle in a bit, and then from there onwards it was fine.”
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