Norris and Leclerc share cheeky joke after thrilling Austin battle

Norris started behind Max Verstappen in P2, with Leclerc behind in P3, before the lights went out. However, the Ferrari man on the soft tyres made the most of the extra grip into turn 1, overtaking Norris with a fine move around the outside.

But in the final few laps, with the McLaren driver on the soft tyres compared to Leclerc on the mediums, Norris used that advantage to get by on the final few laps after doing battle all race long.

"I thought, Lando, you would be on the softs," Leclerc stated as they both debriefed the race at the Circuit of The Americans.

The Brit then had a cheeky response to the Monegaque after battling fiercely with him twice: "It would be nice if it were a bit easier."

After making the overtake at turn 1 into P2, there was some brilliant defensive work done by Leclerc to hold onto second place in the first stint.

Norris had DRS multiple times and looked for moves down into turn 12 after the back straight, but the car placement from the Monegasque was superb.

As the two then switched tyres for the second stint, it looked like Norris' chance was over after an earlier attack did not come to fruition, struggling with tyre temperatures as a result.

But once he cooled his tyres down by backing off from Leclerc, he returned in the final five laps to put the pressure on once again, finally making the move to get every available point possible as the title battle heats up.

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