Lando Norris says Max Verstappen ‘ruined his own race’ in Miami fight

Re-watching his Miami Grand Prix battle with Max Verstappen, Lando Norris declared that the Red Bull driver had “ruined his own race” by defending valiantly on older tyres.

Norris made that comment to Piastri as the McLaren pair, alongside Mercedes’ race winner Kimi Antonelli, looked back at major moments and battles from a gripping Miami GP in the cooldown room.

Lando Norris questions Max Verstappen Miami tactic

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Leclerc, Antonelli and Norris were swapping the lead in a frantic opening quarter of the race. This eventually evolved into a two-horse race between Antonelli and Norris.

‘Yo-yo racing’ has become something of a buzz word in F1 2026, and that remained on show in Miami.

Antonelli, Norris and Piastri would watch back some of the battles in the cooldown room.

Piastri rued the difficulty of passing and staying ahead in F1 2026 machinery, due to the battery deployment and harvesting.

Norris, meanwhile, would question the combative defensive tactics of Verstappen.

Verstappen went for an alternate strategy by pitting behind the early Safety Car on Lap 7. Verstappen had spun at the race start while challenging Leclerc for the lead, necessitating a recovery drive.

Into the lead once the frontrunners made their stops, Verstappen was on the defensive. Antonelli and Norris came through, the latter forced to cover off a retaliation from Verstappen down the inside of Turn 17.

Leclerc later caught Verstappen and on Lap 47, came through at T1. Verstappen struck back, but Leclerc had third again by the time that duo reached T11.

Piastri got the job done on Verstappen two laps later, while Russell was left with front wing damage when he collided with Verstappen at Turn 1. The stewards decided that no further action was required.

Verstappen did recover a spot to fifth, passing Leclerc’s wounded Ferrari at the line.

The exchange between Piastri and Norris went as follows:

Piastri: “See, watch this. I overtake him, sweet.”

Norris: “And he came back past you?”

Piastri: “But, like, nothing I could do.”

Norris: “I don’t get what Max is doing. He just ruined his own race.”

There were also collective gasps as the trio watched Leclerc’s last-lap spin, one which remarkably did not result in race-ending damage.

More Miami GP talking points via PlanetF1.com

Miami GP conclusions: Antonelli insecurity, Verstappen impatience, F1’s TV fail

Winners and losers from the 2026 Miami Grand Prix

Max Verstappen was right to give it a go

For Verstappen, his Miami Grand Prix became a case of damage limitation after that first-lap spin.

Armed with a more competitive RB22 in Miami, it was always going to be the case that Verstappen turned up the intensity, as he tried to rescue a worthy result.

Of course, it is more commonplace for a driver on older tyres not to fight too hard against cars coming through, such as to preserve whatever tyre life they have left.

The thing was, Verstappen, even if he had taken a lower-strain approach, would unlikely have conserved enough pace to fight for a podium. Leclerc was reeling him in too fast.

For a four-time World Champion, starved of front-running minutes in F1 2026, that strategy would not have appealed anyway.

Considering the scenario, the pace swings of deployment/harvesting, and the fact this is Max Verstappen, he was always going to get the elbows out.

What it did do, was add a further layer of excitement to the race, and landed Verstappen the Driver of the Day award.

It would be a safe bet to assume that Verstappen will not regret his approach.

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