Lando Norris offers honest verdict on Max Verstappen pit lane incident

Lando Norris admits he has “nothing to complain about” after a pit lane incident involving Max Verstappen at the F1 Japanese Grand Prix.

The McLaren and Red Bull drivers found themselves jockeying for position at the exit of the pit lane after Lap 21 at Suzuka.

Lando Norris ended up on the grass but the FIA stewards opted not to investigate the incident, after noting it.

Verstappen won the Japanese Grand Prix ahead of Norris, with Oscar Piastri completing the podium.

Norris reflected on the pit lane battle: “I never expected to come out ahead of him. He had the right of line, the space, the position.

“I wanted to give myself that chance. But I didn’t expect him to give me any room, and he doesn’t have to give me any room.

“Nothing to complain about.”

He later added: “The guys did a good pit stop. It was our one opportunity to get closer.

“He had the position, and the right to do what he did.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner also defended Verstappen’s driving which kept him ahead of Norris as they exited the pit lane.

Lando Norris: McLaren ‘quicker’ but not ‘enough’

Norris is top of the F1 drivers’ championship with 62 points after three rounds.

He is a point ahead of Verstappen, and 13 ahead of teammate Piastri.

Despite McLaren’s status as F1’s quickest car, it was not enough in Japan.

“It was a tough race,” Norris said. “I felt that, at times, we were quicker. But not enough.

“The Red Bull was quick, Max was quick, they were good all weekend. We didn’t have enough of an advantage.

“We were probably quicker, but Max being in clean air and not making mistakes was enough to stay ahead.

“Nothing to complain about but there are things to improve with the car. We were suffering a lot today in certain areas, compared to him. But nothing we didn’t know before.”

Norris admitted he didn’t expect to catch Verstappen: “Really, not a lot. I was quicker in Sector 1. But the Red Bull is a lot quicker than us at slow-speed corners.

“Even if I got close, staying close at the hairpin and the final chicane would have been impossible.

“It’s just too difficult to overtake here. Our strengths and weaknesses are in the wrong spots sometimes.

“We got away with slow speed in qualifying but, in the race, I was losing one-and-a-half tenths in the hairpin every lap because the car isn’t at the level of the Red Bull.

“We have work to do. If we can do it, I can be happier. But we lost this race in qualifying. Max won it and deserved to win the race.”