Mexican GP: Verstappen got what he had coming to him, says Norris

McLaren’s Lando Norris said Max Verstappen “got what he had coming to him” after Red Bull’s Formula One championship leader collected two 10-second penalties and finished sixth in Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix.

The result breathed new life into Norris’s title challenge, leaving the second-placed Briton 47 points adrift with four rounds remaining.

“I go into every race expecting a tough battle with Max,” Norris told reporters. “It’s clear that it doesn’t matter if he wins or (finishes) second, his only job is to beat me in the race. And he’ll sacrifice himself to do that, like he did today.

“I want to have those tough battles, like I’ve seen him have plenty of times. But fair ones … it’s always going to be tough with Max. He’s never going to make anyone’s life easy, especially mine at this point of the year.

“But I think today was not fair, clean racing. And therefore, I think he got what he had coming to him.”

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Verstappen, early in the season, looked like he would win his fourth title at a canter but McLaren’s, and Norris’s, rapid rise has clouded that even if the Dutch 27-year-old still looks a clear favourite.

As the battle has got closer, with Verstappen now not winning for 10 races, the fight with Norris has only intensified.

They clashed in Texas a week earlier, with Norris penalised for going off track and gaining an advantage when trying to pass his rival, and this time it was Verstappen who fell foul of the stewards.

One penalty was for forcing Norris wide and the other for going off and gaining an advantage. Asked if Verstappen had been harsher on him in Mexico than in Austin, Norris replied: “Probably, yes”.

“Today I felt like I just had to avoid collisions and that’s not what you feel like you want to do in a race. He’s in a very powerful position in the championship. He’s a long way ahead. He has nothing to lose,” he added.

“People can say it’s the other way around, like he’s got everything to lose and it’s all for me. But it’s not the case, you know.

“I’m doing my own job, which was a good job today. And I’m happy with all of this and I’m happy with my whole weekend. But it’s not my job to control him. He knows how to drive. And I’m sure he knows that today was probably a bit over the limit.”