Max Verstappen quipped that Lando Norris needs a “big mirror” due to the incident at the start where he was pushed onto the grass in Formula 1’s Spanish Grand Prix.
Verstappen hooked up the start procedure better than polesitter Norris to pull alongside the McLaren racer, who moved over and nudged his rivals towards the inside.
The Dutchman would maintain his foot flat to the floor to gain the inside line into Turn 1 to gain a spot on Norris, but George Russell capitalised to overtake them both.
However, Verstappen stormed past the Mercedes two laps later and opened up a sizeable advantage that proved decisive in thwarting Norris’ charge later in the race.
Asked to give his perspective on the minor clash that the stewards determined was not worth investigating, Norris contended that he gave Verstappen enough space.
“I mean, it’s always difficult to judge in that situation,” Norris said. “I can’t get a tape measure out and measure it perfectly.
“So I’m not gonna make his life easy, but there was enough space, I think.
“I think it was just racing. I gave him enough space. I don’t think at any point there wasn’t enough space for him to stay on the track.”
Verstappen remonstrated over the Briton’s aggressive car positioning at the time, but post-race admitted he had also moved over to avoid incurring possible damage.
“I think I know his birthday present already. So it’s either like a big mirror or some glasses, and it will be fine!” Verstappen remarked.
“It’s OK. No, listen, I mean, it’s hard racing for sure. If you turn it around, would I have done the same?
“I probably would have done the same. No, listen, you always try to squeeze it to the limit.
“I also really wanted to avoid potential contact, because you don’t want to rub wheels and potentially damage your suspension.
“So you naturally leave probably a few centimetres extra. And that meant those few extra centimetres meant that I had to go a little bit on the grass.
“And also, luckily, with doing that, nothing happened. So it’s all good. I mean, we still had a good run to Turn 1.”
Norris would bemoan losing ground on Verstappen at the start as he produced a stellar closing stint to eradicate Verstappen’s leading gap at the end to 2.2 seconds.
The Briton claimed that he squandered a chance to seize his second career win with the “quickest car”, though his sixth podium this term moved him up into second.
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