Rand Norris says he can’t win a fight with Max Verstappen as he is constantly criticized for his approach after losing time with the defending champion at the Miami Grand Prix.
Verstappen ran a big run over Norris on Turn 2 at the start of the race, with McLaren returning to third and appearing within two seconds of Verstappen as his teammate Oscar Piastri took the lead. It was a crucial time in the race as Piastri cleared Verstappen after a few laps of battles and escaped the path to the 9th song, while Norris struggled to pass Red Bull.
“What can I say? If I don’t go for it, people complain. If I go for it, people complain, so you can’t win,” Norris said. “But that’s how I do it with Max. I either crash or I won’t pass. I’m really right and I can get there unless I put him in the perfect position. I paid the price today because I wasn’t doing enough work.
Norris was also critical of Verstappen’s approach at the start of the race, claiming that the Dutch defense could potentially make him finish a higher self.
“It was fine. He’s fighting hard, but it’s up to him to do that,” he said. “He’s ruining his race. He’s not racing very smart. He could have finished 1-2 today.
After finally coming in second place, Piastri’s margins effectively doubled from the gaps that existed between the McLaren drivers before their respective battle with Verstappen, but Norris believed he could put pressure on his teammates until the end of Piastri’s victory.
“We gave us good shots from when we got into second,” he said. “It’s been a long way off. I think I’ve been 25 or 30 laps at about that point. I probably just stopped pushing the last 4 or 5 laps. The gap went from almost 10 to 4 or 3 seconds.
“Basically, I tried the whole race until the very end. I believed in the whole race, but Oscar driving worked. He’s fast. It was always impossible to catch from a teenager, but I made it a good shot. I got there.