‘Always complain’ – Lando Norris takes aim at Red Bull after Verstappen criticism

Lando Norris brushed off Max Verstappen’s late-qualifying complaint against him, quipping that Red Bull “complain about everything”.

Verstappen’s race engineer, GianPiero Lambiase, referenced that “your mate” (Norris) was ahead of the reigning World Champion on track during the final laps of Q3, in which the Red Bull driver backed off heading into the final two corners after getting close to polesitter George Russell’s times in the first two sectors.

Lando Norris responds following Max Verstappen complaint

After qualifying, Verstappen referenced the moment which irked him, backing off in the final part of his lap and raising his hand out of his car in Norris’ direction, with the McLaren driver having already moved off the racing line to head into the pit lane.

Lambiase and Verstappen had a radio exchange after qualifying, with the Red Bull driver swearing in frustration at Norris being further up the road, believing that to have cost him time.

“That’s what happens when there’s a car in front of you just cruising two seconds in front,” Verstappen added in parc ferme.

“So that’s noted. It will be remembered as well.”

For his part, Norris qualified fifth in an entertaining session in Singapore, but will start two places behind teammate and title rival Oscar Piastri when the lights go out.

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Asked about that moment with Verstappen, the McLaren driver was quick to brush it off.

“Ah, they always complain. They complain about everything, it’s Red Bull,” Norris said when presented with Verstappen’s frustration after qualifying finished.

Pressed if he was aware of Verstappen approaching behind, he replied: “I didn’t even know, I was like three seconds ahead.”

With one reporter saying they couldn’t work out the gap between them, the McLaren driver added: “I can’t work it out either.”

On his session as a whole, Norris admitted McLaren has been off the pace compared to the other frontrunners in Singapore, with George Russell having impressed to take pole position at Marina Bay.

With that, the Briton is keeping his targets lower than has been the case this season when the race starts on Sunday.

Asked about a target for the race, Norris added: “I mean, it’s just points.

“I’m in fifth, so not a lot of points, and I’m behind the people I need to be behind, but we’ve got nothing to worry about.

“I’ve just got to try and get my head down. It’s not an easy track to overtake on, so that’s why today’s a bit frustrating, of course, and I’m not the happiest about today from my own performance, but no-one to worry about.”

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