Lando Norris has addressed his pit lane incident with Max Verstappen after the reigning world champion reduced his F1 drivers’ title lead to just a point at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Norris made a good start from second on the grid but had to immediately settle behind Verstappen, who controlled the entire race.
The McLaren driver’s only opportunity to overtake the Dutchman was when both drivers pitted on Lap 22, with Norris’ pit stop having been one-second quicker than Verstappen’s.
He emerged from his pit box directly alongside Verstappen at the exit of the pit lane and dipped four wheels on the grass in a bid to get into the lead; unfortunately, it was to no avail.
The incident was noted by the race stewards; however, it was quickly deemed that no investigation was required, something Norris agreed with despite initial complaints over the radio.
“It’s racing,” insisted Norris. “I think, he was still ahead. [The pit exit] it kind of squeezes into one and Max is the last guy to expect to give me any space, in a good way, in a racing way.
“So nothing more than that.”
Norris remained within 1.5 seconds of Verstappen from then on and settled for second in the end.
Due to the combination of having pitted on the same lap and both cars pace being similar, there was no way past Verstappen for Norris, who recognised that the race was lost after qualifying in second.
“Yeah, I guess just lost out yesterday,” said Norris. “Max drove a good race today, no mistakes, and the pace was too similar today to do anything more.
“Long race, a lot of pushing, it was a flat out race from the start-to-finish. So tough, but, yeah, just not enough today.
“Nothing special that we had that we could get Max on. They were quick and no mistakes, like I said, so he deserved it.”
