Watch: Lando Norris playfully kicked by Max Verstappen in the middle of an interview

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen playfully kicked his good friend and McLaren driver Lando Norris while the latter was in the middle of an interview ahead of the Imola Grand Prix. The duo finished the race in P1 and P2 respectively, with the three-time world champion just about beating Norris to the chequered flag.

It wasn't a comfortable race for Verstappen as after building a gap of seven seconds, he was caught by Norris in the final phase of the race when both drivers were on hard tires. Despite his late surge, the Brit was unable to pass the Dutch driver and finished 0.7 seconds behind him in the final standings.

However, ahead of the race on Sunday, during Lando Norris' interview with Rachel Brooks of Sky Sports, Max Verstappen was spotted kicking his friend from behind in a friendly way. Norris hilariously said in response:

"Avoid getting injured by this guy."

In his post-race press conference, Verstappen was asked if he was worried about Norris closing the gap to him in the final phase of the race.

"Well, I mean, as soon as it was like half a second a lap, I was like, 'Whoa, that's a lot.' But on the other hand, you can't do anything about it. So I was just trying to do my pace. You cannot suddenly try and force half a second out of it when you don't have the balance," Verstappen said.

"With the rear wing that we had, we were quite fast on the straight. And yeah, that probably helped a bit in the last few laps to defend."

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"I was just praying for one more lap" - Lando Norris after losing Imola GP to Max Verstappen

After the Imola GP, McLaren driver Lando Norris stated that he was desperate for an extra lap as he finally had the DRS on Max Verstappen. Norris believes that he could have passed the 26-year-old with one more lap, but also expressed regret over the way he started the race.

"I was just praying for one more lap. I was just praying for someone to say one more lap. I don't know why. But yeah, I mean, I just did everything I could. I was pushing like hell to get there and catch up and have a chance," Norris told the media.

"It's a shame, but it is what it is, and we just struggled too much at the beginning of the race."

With his second-placed finish at the Imola GP, Lando Norris remains fourth in the drivers' standings with 101 points. McLaren have also kept their grip on third place in the constructors' standings with 154 points.

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen and Red Bull remain atop the standings with 161 and 268 points respectively.