Lando Norris gives his opinion on how Max Verstappen is going to approach racing with a race ban threat hanging over his head

Lando Norris doesn't think Max Verstappen is going to approach racing any differently even if there is a race ban threat hanging over his head. The Dutch driver ended up picking up three more penalty points for his incident in Barcelona with George Russell.

There were many, however, including former F1 champion Nico Rosberg, who felt that the driver got away with a lenient penalty. With that being said, the Dutch driver is now at 11 penalty points, and if he picks up even one more, he would be banned for a race.

The accumulation of these F1 penalty points is not a result of just a singular incident, however, as Max Verstappen has had quite a few in the last 12 months that have seen him get tantalizingly close to a ban. With the driver approaching a race ban, there have been suggestions that he would be extra cautious now so that he doesn't end up picking up another penalty.

Lando Norris, however, does not think so. Talking about the current situation that the Dutch driver is in, Norris said that he doesn't expect any change in the driver's approach. He told the media, including Motorsport,

“I don't think anything really changes. You don't know what he's going to do. So at this point, I'm trying to think of what to do that differently. It's the same as normal. I think he's still going to fight. He's further behind in the points. If anything, he's still going to fight more."

He added,

"So no, there's no point in trying to assume things or just guess because when you're in the position of fighting on the track, you can't just try and think: ‘oh, he's going to give me more space and then he doesn't and then something happens’. There's no point assuming things or trying to think what other people are going to do. He's still fighting for the championship. He still wants to try and win every race he can.”

Lando Norris on Max Verstappen's incident with George Russell

Lando Norris had opted not to say much about Max Verstappen's controversial incident with George Russell in Barcelona, but two weeks later, there have been a few developments. For instance, Verstappen has himself admitted that what happened was not correct.

Talking about the incident, Norris admitted that this was not your usual aggressive driving from Max Verstappen, as he said,

“Max is one of the best in the world because of how he drives. I don't think anyone can argue against that. I think it's quite a simple statement. Of course, he said he shouldn't have done what he did. You can speak to him, you don't need to speak to me about it but I'm sure he regrets doing what he did."

He added,

“What he did last weekend was obviously a little different to probably what he normally does. It was not just a simple aggression, and good, strong, on-the-edge defensive moves. It was something obviously a little bit separate from that. No, I think Max is who he is, and he's achieved what he has because of how he drives. There is no reason for him to change that side.”

Max Verstappen is heading to the F1 Canadian GP with a threat of a race ban hanging over his head and a 49-point deficit to championship leader Oscar Piastri.