Lando Norris makes new Max Verstappen demand ahead of next duel in Brazil

Lando Norris has said it’s “on the other side to change” in how he and Max Verstappen go racing in the final rounds of F1 2024.

Norris and Verstappen have had several dramatic moments while battling on track in recent races, with the reigning World Champion picking up two significant time penalties in the most recent race in Mexico.

Lando Norris: I want clean, fair racing

Norris was given a five-second time penalty for overtaking Verstappen off the track a fortnight ago in the United States, having been pushed off by the Red Bull driver through the tight left-hand Turn 12 at COTA.

Seven days later, Verstappen pushed Norris off at Turn 4 of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, leading to a 10-second time penalty, and picked up a separate 10-second time penalty for going off track and gaining an advantage as he passed Norris by diving up the inside into the medium-speed Turn 7.

It’s led to all sorts of analysis and punditry regarding Verstappen’s choice of tactics, as the Dutch driver desperately tries to cling on to his championship lead with four race weekends left in the season.

Ahead of the weekend in Brazil, Norris was asked by Sky F1 broadcaster Ted Kravitz if he’s aware that fans watching at home are eager to see “nice racing” and not an endless stream of penalties, terse radio messages, and stewards’ investigations.

“So do I and I do,” Norris answered.

“That’s what I said and it’s what I said going into Mexico – I want clean, fair racing, and that’s what I do.”

Without naming Verstappen, Norris said it’s on his championship rival to take a different approach if cleaner racing is to happen.

“That’s what I provide, and that’s how I race,” he said.

“It’s how I’ve always raced in my career. It’s not for me to change, it’s for the other side to change.”

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Elaborating, Norris said he believes he is making the correct decisions in how he is approaching battles with Verstappen by avoiding clashes.

“I think something I’ve done well my whole career is always normally staying out of trouble and keeping the car in one piece,” he said.

“All those little things add up over a championship and over a season – especially in a cost cap season as well.

“But I think I’ve always had the mentality to want to race fair and clean, and sometimes I’ve been on the ‘too kind’ side, whether I was attacking or defending and things like that.

“I think I always made good decisions from that side, and sometimes I’ve made the price for not being aggressive enough.

“But the rest of it is not up to me, but I know how to keep the car in one piece. That’s something I’ve done for a while.”

Norris hinted there have been more incidents than perhaps have been spotted, saying: “Even when you don’t realise it, there are times when you avoid a potential crash, and maybe you don’t see it behind the TV and things like that, but inside the car, you know ‘I’m only here because I avoided this or that’.

“So there are more times that people realise that you go through those certain scenarios, and I think those are some of the challenges you have every now and again.

“I’ll come into this weekend with the expectation of, hopefully, having clean and fair racing and I think that’s what we expect.”

Reflecting on the weekend in Mexico, in which his second-place result allowed him to close in 10 points on Verstappen to reduce the deficit to 47, the McLaren driver said he believes the stewards made all the correct decisions in slapping Verstappen with his penalties.

“I think the stewards did a good job,” he said.

“They have a very difficult job, but they’ve done a good job, I think 99 percent of people who watch Formula 1 and know F1 agree with that.

“So yeah, I think we’re happy from our side as well. We stayed out of trouble and I did my job also.

“But every weekend is a new weekend, right? So I don’t know what to expect this weekend.

“Obviously, I hope and expect a cleaner battle than what we had. Not up to me. I don’t make the rules. I don’t decide the penalty – I just drive and the stewards did the rest and they did a good job.”

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