Lando Norris on his incident with Max Verstappen: “If I don’t go for it, people complain; if I go for it, people complain”

Lando Norris has called out the double standards of his critics, stating that any move he takes against Max Verstappen draws backlash from his detractors. The McLaren driver was left to rue an aggressive first-lap battle with the reigning champion that dropped him off the front row in the Miami GP.

During Sunday's race, Norris experienced a painful reminder of the race-start issues that plagued his 2024 championship bid. Starting alongside Verstappen, the papaya driver went wheel-to-wheel into the second corner but was ran off track by the Dutchman. This gave the chasing pack enough time to pass through, as Norris tumbled down the order to sixth.

The stewards took note of the incident but took no further action, leaving Norris to fight his way back to the front. While Norris eventually passed Verstappen, his teammate Oscar Piastri had taken a nine-second lead by then and went on to manage the race proceedings to take the top step.

During a post-race interview, Norris spoke about the opening-lap incident that derailed his momentum.

"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. It’s the way it is with Max, it’s crash or don’t pass unless you get it really right and you put him in the perfect position, then you can just about get there. I paid the price for not doing a good enough job today."

The result marked Piastri's third straight win of the season, adding to a points tally of 131, a 16-point lead over Lando Norris. Notably, this is the second race in a row where Verstappen wasn't able to convert his pole into a race win.

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"Not worried at all": Lando Norris opens up about Oscar Piastri's championship momentum

Speaking ahead of the Miami GP, Lando Norris expressed no concern about Oscar Piastri's championship lead, with the Australian heading into the weekend with two consecutive wins at Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. On the contrary, Norris has found himself on the backfoot ever since his inaugural win in Melbourne.

During an FIA press conference, Norris was asked if his teammate's momentum caused him any worry. He replied,

“No, not worried at all. He’s doing a good job. He deserves it. Nothing more than that. I don’t believe so much in the momentum stuff. It’s my opinion. I do what I can. I have clearly made some mistakes. I know where the level I need to be. I believe I can be at the level soon enough."

As a respite to his shortcomings, Lando Norris caught a break during the Miami sprint race, when he emerged as the race leader during a well-timed pitstop under the yellow flag. Piastri had to settle for the runner-up spot with a single point deficit to Norris.