Lando Norris: Max Verstappen incidents “a step too far” | “Another step from Austin”

Lando Norris believes Max Verstappen went “a bit too far” with his aggression in wheel-to-wheel combat in the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Verstappen picked up 20 seconds worth a penalty for two incidents with his F1 title rival.

The Dutchman was deemed to have pushed Norris off the track at Turn 4 before doing the same at Turn 7.

The incident cost Norris track position to Charles Leclerc, potentially ruining his chances of winning the race.

For Verstappen, it dropped him to 15th, before recovering to a lacklustre sixth.

It means in back-to-back races, there have been controversial incidents between Verstappen and Norris.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Norris felt the events of Mexico were considerably more severe than what happened in Austin.

“I think this was another step from Austin,” he said. “I don’t necessarily think any of us should have had a penalty in Austin.

“I am not saying Max should have had one, me not, I don’t think that’s the case. Here, I think it was a lot more clear for different reasons.

“I don’t need to say them. I respect Max a lot in what he does, how he races, all of these things.

“I look forward to having good battles with him. I want to have them. It makes me smile and what I love about racing. It’s why I do it in a way. Things like today, it’s a bit too far. We both could have been out of the race and I just think that’s not how you should race. Maybe some will disagree and say I am wrong.

“I think today was a step too far. I think Max will know that, I hope, and then we can go ahead to have some more clean, fair battles because I look forward to them.”

Sky Sports F1 commentator Martin Brundle concurred with Norris, describing it as a “red mist” moment.

Brundle also felt that Verstappen doesn’t need to resort to such tactics, stating “he’s better than that”.