“Max is the last guy I expect to give me any space,” says Norris of pit exit incident

Lando Norris has downplayed the clash he had with Max Verstappen on the pit exit during the Japanese Grand Prix, describing it as “simply racing”.

Verstappen took the win at Suzuka in the last outing for the Red Bull-Honda partnership at the Japanese manufacturer’s home track, scoring his first victory of the 2025 season. The Dutchman crossed the line ahead of McLaren drivers Norris and Oscar Piastri. 

It was a sedate race, but a moment following the pitstops of Verstappen and Norris had fans momentarily on the edge of their seats as the drivers ran beside each other on the pit exit, with Norris losing traction as he ran his right tyres over the grass.

While the two drivers argued who was at fault over the radio with their engineers, the post-race interview with the Briton featured him downplaying the tussle.

“It’s racing, I think. He was still ahead, it kind of squeezes into one, and Max is the last guy I expect to give me any space… in a good way, in a racing way. So, nothing more than that,” Norris reflected.

Initially, the driver argued that Verstappen had “forced me off,” while Verstappen told his engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, that “Norris pressed his pit limiter off too early, there’s no way that was legal”.

Verstappen (rightly) wouldn’t move over for Norris on the podium either!

Photo by: Peter Fox – Getty Images

Stewards confirmed soon after that no further action would be taken, putting the clash to bed quickly. 

“I guess I just lost out [in qualifying] yesterday,” Norris said. “Max drove a good race today, no mistakes. The pace was too similar today to do anything more. Long race; a lot of pushing.

“It was a flat-out race from start to finish, so tough, but [we just didn’t have] enough today, nothing special… that we could get Max on. They were quick and made no mistakes, so he deserved it.”

McLaren didn’t pull off the perfect strategy today, with the undercut not being an overly powerful option at this circuit. Norris will now continue the triple header hoping to improve.

“I think it’s still been a very good weekend,” he said. “Obviously, we didn’t get the positions that we wanted. We’re fighting for a win every weekend, but they deserved it. Both Red Bull and Max deserved it this weekend.

“They’re quick, they’ve been catching up. They’ve obviously made some improvements and, as a team, we didn’t have enough this weekend. So we’re going to have to work harder for the next one.”