LANDO NORRIS HAS RUBBISHED SUGGESTIONS THAT HIS FRIENDSHIP WITH MAX VERSTAPPEN LEADS HIM TO RACE THE F1 WORLD CHAMPION DIFFERENTLY TO HIS OTHER RIVALS.
The McLaren driver was accused of letting Verstappen past too easily in last year’s United States Grand Prix before putting up a greater fight in his ultimately unsuccessful attempts to keep Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes behind in the battle for second place.
Speaking to Motorsport, Norris explained his thinking behind his approach to racing Verstappen and Hamilton in Austin.
“I think one of those areas where I’ve done a good job this year is by reading the situations that I’m in, knowing who I’m racing against and who I’m not,” Norris said.
“I know it’s a race at the end of the day, but the likelihood of losing a position to Max in Austin, and how I raced Lewis versus how I raced Max, in the end I kind of knew I was going to lose positions to both of them.
“That’s not a bad attitude, that’s just being realistic and honest about the situations I’m in.
“The chance of keeping Max behind was basically zero. He was way too quick, his tyre degradation – I don’t know if anyone saw this year – was way better than everyone.”
Lando Norris (GBR) McLaren MCL60 and Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W14 battle for position. Formula 1 World
Norris added: “There’s no point ruining the longevity of your race trying to race one person that has a 99% chance of beating you because he’s in a quicker car.
“When Lewis overtook me [in Austin] it was with six laps to go or something. He was on way fresher tyres, so still maybe not the best reason to race against him, but there was a lot more of a chance of keeping him behind potentially than there ever was with Max.
Be the first to comment