Norris debunks suggestion about Verstappen: 'That wasn't the reason'

Lando Norris admits he sometimes makes a conscious decision not to take the fight to Max Verstappen. Contrary to what some people think, that has nothing to do with their friendship.

Norris debunks suggestion about friendship with Verstappen

It is no secret that Verstappen and Norris get along very well. In their spare time, the two regularly game together, but they are also occasionally spotted together at parties and during holidays. However, their friendship is not the reason why Norris does not always put up a fight with the Red Bull Racing driver, while he does with other F1 drivers.

Norris argues that it is a strategic choice all to do with knowing who it makes sense to race against and who does not, citing the US Grand Prix as an example. "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," he is quoted by Autosport.com.

According to the McLaren driver, this is a purely realistic approach: "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."

Norris, therefore, calls it pointless to go all out to defend his position in such a situation when it is inevitable that he will eventually be overtaken. Moreover, it could have cost him positions by asking too much of his tyres. He defended hard against Lewis Hamilton later in the race.

Norris on Hamilton

The Mercedes driver overtook Norris six laps before the end of the Formula 1 race in Austin. "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," he continued.

He added that he would have been only too happy to defend more fiercely against Verstappen. "I don’t want to ever give a position up to anyone! Especially not Max!" he said with a wink. Norris believes that people on the outside are far too quick to judge when they suggest that friendship was the reason he defended less fiercely. In fact, their friendship is all the more reason for the McLaren driver to want to beat Verstappen, Norris said.