Norris Dismisses Accusations Of Battling Verstappen Lightly Due To Their Friendship
F1Sunday, 07 January 2024 at 16:00
Multiple fans have accused Lando Norris of not racing Max Verstappen as hard as other drivers due to their friendship. However, McLaren dismissed these talks in his recent interview.
Lando Norris met with the Red Bull Racing F1 driver Max Verstappen quite a few times on track during the 2023 season after he received a more competitive car.
While they shared some great battles during races like Sao Paulo, for example, fans have noticed the 24-year-old let the Dutchman pass him very easily on multiple occasions.
The McLaren driver explained in a recent interview he has to pick his battles and not be silly to try and fight somebody who will inevitably pass him. He told motorsport.com:
“"If I’d raced Max, I would have used a lot more tires because he was a lot quicker. I only would have hurt my ability to extend a stint or only compromised my own race more than benefitted it."”
Unfortunately, drivers from different teams do not have equal cars in F1, and therefore, Norris often has to Verstappen pass him in order not to lose more time even though he would like to do otherwise.
“"Would I have loved to be more forceful and put on a better defence? Absolutely. Like, why would I not? I love racing and that is what I want to do. I don’t want to ever give a position up to anyone! Especially not Max!"”
The 24-year-old shared how comments from angry fans who don't understand his situation sometimes annoy him. He continued:
“"People on the outside are too quick to judge again why I wouldn’t [race Verstappen hard]. [They say], ‘Ah, it’s because he’s friends with Max’ and all of that stuff.' Which couldn’t have anything less to do with it."”
There are not many drivers in Formula One who wanted to beat the triple World Champion more than Norris in the 2023 season. The number four driver is still waiting for his first victory and has just equaled the record for the most podiums in F1 without a win. He added:
“"If anything, it makes me want to beat someone more if I’m friends with them than if I’m not."”
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