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Max Verstappen dropped a blunt response to Lando Norris's "always complains" statement in Singapore, reflecting on the driver's perspective. The drivers were involved in a verbal tussle after an incident during the Singapore GP qualifying session.
Verstappen was on his final hotlap in Q3 as Norris was heading back to the pitlane, with the Red Bull driver building up the opportunity to clinch pole position. However, he aborted his lap after a snap of oversteer on turn 17, and Norris could be seen heading into the pits at the same time. Verstappen claimed that the dirty air from the McLaren hampered his lap, and hence, he could only start P2.
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Reacting to his statement, Lando Norris later mentioned that Red Bull and Max Verstappen "always complain."
"They always complain. They complain about everything. That's Red Bull. I don't even know. I was like three seconds ahead. I can't work it out."
Further discussing the McLaren driver's statement about complaining, Verstappen claimed that Norris would have done the same thing if they had swapped places at the moment of the incident.
"Well, that’s exactly what I would say as well if I were him," Verstappen said.
George Russell ended up winning the Grand Prix, his second race win this season. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen finished in second place, with Lando Norris trailing behind him.
Max Verstappen claimed Lando Norris broke the "unwritten rule" during Singapore GP qualifying
As per the regulations, drivers who are not on a hot lap are required to get off the racing line and leave enough space if they are trailed by a driver on a hot lap during a qualifying session. This is done to ensure that the drivers do not face obstacles while doing their qualifying laps.
However, there is another aspect that can ruin a car's performance: dirty air. The current generation of Formula 1 cars is extremely sensitive to air. So much so, that the dirty air from a car ahead can still impact the car following it within an approximately 7-second gap. This was one of the reasons Max Verstappen was agitated with Lando Norris.
He claimed that Norris did not pit his McLaren earlier, which left quite a bit of dirty air for his Red Bull to face, which hampered his lap. While this was technically not "blocking" Verstappen, he further mentioned that this is an "unwritten rule" that Norris did not abide by.
"You can't say he's holding me up, because he's not blocking me. But especially in this phase of qualifying, everyone always leaves a gap of at least eight seconds. That's an unwritten rule," he said (via De Telegraaf).
Lando Norris started the race down in P5 but was able to make early moves and clinched P3, as mentioned. He did close down the gap on his teammate in the Drivers' Championship; however, Oscar Piastri still leads with a 22-point gap.
