Yesterday at 09:15
Lando Norris has highlighted Max Verstappen can afford to be more
aggressive in wheel-to-wheel battles as he is not in contention for
the F1 title. Verstappen was engaged in a fight with Norris in the
opening stages of the Italian Grand Prix last weekend, which
started at the opening corner of the race. After Verstappen was
instructed by his team to hand position over to Norris to avoid a
time penalty after skipping Turn 1, Verstappen launched a fresh
attack on the McLaren driver and successfully overtook him for the
lead. Norris, who currently trails team-mate and title rival Oscar
Piastri by 31 points, labelled the battle as "nerve-rackingly
close". The Briton explained he must err on the side of caution
compared to Verstappen or risk seeing his championship hopes
evaporate. "The main part I said was nerve-rackingly close was when
he overtook me into Turn 1 on the outside, on lap two or three,
whatever it was," Norris told media including RacingNews365 .
"That's the one where it's like, who wants to brake the latest?
"But I knew being on the inside that Max is in a much stronger
position than I am. "He can afford to be a lot more on the edge and
aggressive than I can. I can't afford to lose a front wing or have
a little bit of damage, whatever it might be. "I felt like I took
the risks that needed to be taken and did my part, but just not
quick enough." Norris ended the race in second place, over 19
seconds behind Verstappen - marking the biggest win margin of the
season so far. It was just the fourth time in 16 races McLaren has
been defeated this year. "I wish it [the battle] could last a bit
longer than it did," Norris added. "Just a tough race for us, not
the pace we wanted. I think we were hoping to at least fight for a
win."
