Lando Norris and Max Verstappen were friends in life before being rivals on the track at the highest level of motor racing that is Formula 1. But this year, they struggled in races, until collisions ( in Austria) and questionable maneuvers (in Austin and Mexico).
Asked how their – albeit remotely – fight for the title may have influenced their friendship, the McLaren F1 driver was cautious and believes that life in the paddock can be different from what happens on the track .
“I don’t know, I’m torn” replied the McLaren driver. “In some ways, you can think that the way someone can be personally and get along with people can be so different from the way you are on the track.”
“It's such a different world on the track and here. It's the first time I've been in this situation, and time will tell how it develops. But for now, I still respect Max, I think that he respects me, but perhaps I will have to ask the question again at the end of the year!”
Norris suffered the same illegal defenses from Verstappen that Lewis Hamilton experienced in 2021, showing that the Red Bull driver was under pressure. Norris is happy to push him to his limits and believes that's what it takes to beat Red Bull and Verstappen.
“It's a compliment, for sure. But he does what he believes is best, which is right. It may not always be the right thing to do, but we always do what we think it's right and we always do what we think is best at that time.”
He is doing what he has to do to try to keep me behind him in the championship because he is under pressure, Red Bull is under pressure, they are no longer at the level. We overtook them, Ferrari overtook them. They're doing their best, we're doing our best, and the more pressure we put on them, the more they'll make those kinds of mistakes.”
