Norris’ clever quip after Kravitz creates fresh wave of British bias claims

Opening the door for a fresh round of British bias claims, Lando Norris gave Ted Kravitz short shrift when the Sky F1 reporter asked him about his McLaren repercussions after Singapore and the impact on his World title chances.

Russell and Verstappen clashed late last season when Verstappen lost pole position to the Mercedes driver in Qatar after Russell complained about his Red Bull rival driving in a “super dangerous” mannerduring qualifying.

Lando Norris claps back at Ted Kravitz

Verstappen was stripped of pole for ‘driving unnecessarily slowly’, and said he had lost all respect for the Briton as he had “never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard”.

Russell accused Verstappen of threatening behaviour and bullying, claiming the reigning World Champion had said he would put his “f***ing head in the wall” after the hearing.

As the back-and-forth rumbled on into Abu Dhabi, Sky’s pit lane reporter Kravitz was drawn into it.

Writing in his new book, Notes from the Pit Lane, Kravitz said Russell specifically asked him to ask more than the one question permitted in the media pen interview as he wanted to “give it back” to the Red Bull driver.

“Up strode George,” wrote the Briton. “He called me over to the edge of the pen [and said]: ‘Make sure you ask me a follow-up question.’

“‘What do you mean?’ I asked.

“[He replied]: ‘I’m going to give it back to Max. I’ve had enough of him bad-mouthing me in the press and I’m going to call him out on his bullying tactics.

“I know you’re only supposed to ask me one question, but never mind that, I’m up for as many questions as you like.’

“Before checking to see if he was wearing a Drive to Survive microphone, I asked him if he was absolutely sure he wanted to escalate what was effectively last year’s story and start a new fight with Max – never an easy battle to win.

“He said he was positive, and away he went.”

But at a time when tensions are already fraught in Formula 1 over claims of British bias, Kravitz’s claim has only inflamed the battle.

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One that British driver Norris is already having to deal with as he takes on his Australian teammate Oscar Piastri for the World title amid conspiracy theories that McLaren wants the British driver to win.

Norris rather humourously clapped back when Kravitz tried to ask him two questions at the United States Grand Prix weekend.

Ted Kravitz: “I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t ask…”⁰

Lando Norris: “From what I know, it’s one question each. So, thank you very much.”

Lol..😄 pic.twitter.com/hmxh3oVcEb

— The Casual Fan (@effonecasualfan) October 17, 2025

Kravitz: “I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t ask you what the repercussions are specifically, and is it going to hurt your chances of winning the World Championship?”

Norris: “Um, from what I know, it’s one question each. So, thank you very much.”

Kravitz: “That’s what I meant by I wouldn’t be doing my job.”

Norris: “Well, it’s one question each.”

Kravitz: “If I didn’t ask. So maybe my colleagues can ask that.”

McLaren has refused to divulge the details of Norris’ repercussions for his clash with Piastri at the previous race in Singapore where the Briton barged into his teammate on the opening lap.

CEO Zak Brown made it clear that is McLaren’s business, and no one else’s.

“No, we don’t want to get into that,” he said during Friday’s team boss press conference. “I think it’s private business between us.

“I know everyone’s interested to know that. Both drivers are in a great place, and we just want to set them up to continue to be able to race each other hard. It’s not easy having two number one drivers, but we want to have both drivers competing for the championship, and with that comes challenges that are more challenging than if you had a number one or two driver, which we’ve seen over the years.

“So we’re racers. We like to see them race, but we don’t like to see them touch each other.”

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