Lando Norris has minimized the conflict he experienced Max Verstappen At the pit exit during the Japanese Grand Prix, he referred to it simply as "racing."
Verstappen secured the victory at Suzuka during the previous race featuring the Red Bull-Honda collaboration on Ferrari’s home circuit in Japan, claiming his inaugural triumph of the 2025 campaign. The Dutch racer finished ahead of McLaren drivers Norris and Oscar Piastri .
The race was rather calm, but shortly after Verstappen and Norris made their pit stops, things got exciting for the spectators when the two drivers were side by side exiting the pits. Norris struggled with grip as his right tires went off the track onto the grass.
As the two drivers debated over the radio with their engineers about who was responsible for the incident, the post-race interview with the British driver saw him playing down the confrontation.
"It seems like a race. He was still in the lead when everything converged, and Max is typically not someone who would offer me any room... at least not in a competitive sense. That’s all I have to say about it,” Norris mused.
At first, the driver claimed that Verstappen had pushed him off the track. Meanwhile, Verstappen informed Gianpiero Lambiase that Norris activated his pit speed limiter prematurely, stating that he didn’t believe it was within regulations.
Verstappen also rightfully refused to make way for Norris on the podium!
Photo Credit: Peter Fox - Getty Images
Stewards confirmed shortly thereafter that no additional actions were necessary, swiftly bringing the confrontation to an end.
It seems like I missed out during qualification yesterday," Norris stated. "Max had a solid race today with no errors. The speed was quite close for me to make further advancements. It was a long race filled with intense effort.
The entire race was an intense competition throughout, incredibly challenging, yet [we simply lacked] what was needed today; not anything extraordinary... to catch up with Max. He had superior speed and did not make any errors, thus rightfully earned his win.
Today, McLaren failed to execute the ideal strategy, as the undercut proved less effective at this track. Norris will proceed through the tripleheader aiming for better results.
“I believe it was still a great weekend overall,” he stated. “Clearly, we didn’t achieve the placements we aimed for. Every week we strive for victory, yet they earned it. Both Red Bull and Max rightfully claimed their success this weekend.”
They're fast, and they've been closing the gap. Clearly, they've made some enhancements, and as a unit, we lacked what was needed over the weekend. Therefore, we'll need to put in more effort for the upcoming event.