What prompted Lando Norris to borrow an iconic Max Verstappen quote

Lando Norris borrowed a quote made famous by Max Verstappen when asked about a key decision in the United States Grand Prix.

Norris finished second behind Verstappen after emerging out on top of an intense, race-long duel with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for P2 and P3 in Austin.

Leclerc snatched second place from Norris at the start as he capitalised on using soft tyres and kept the McLaren driver behind for long periods of the race.

Norris eventually got past Leclerc on Lap 51 having switched onto softs for the final stint to reduce McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri’s championship advantage down to 14 points with five races remaining.

When asked if he regretted not starting the race on soft tyres, Norris gave a hilarious response.

“Who knows? What was it that you said once? ‘If your Mum had balls,” Norris said, turning to Verstappen.

The Red Bull driver replied: “‘She’d be my Dad’?”

Norris continued: “Starting on the Soft, starting on the right side of the grid, you have the advantage into Turn 1 on the other side. After yesterday, obviously a little bit wary. I didn’t want to go too wide in Turn 1 because I didn’t want to end up in the gravel again.

“So yeah, I kind of had to just stay on the inside and stick to the safer route. But Charles did a good job and I got past. Who knows after that?

“I think I found it difficult enough just to get close to Charles and their pace wasn’t bad at all, until what, 10 laps to go, it was like six seconds off of Max.

“So it wasn’t like we were that far away or their pace was that fast. I think it was a good race. The pace was pretty close. I think that’s why it was so difficult is because we were quicker for sure, but not by a lot.”

Norris was referring to a comment Verstappen made after he finished second at last year’s Miami Grand Prix.

“I mean it’s always if, if, if right? If my mum had balls she would be my dad!” Verstappen quipped at the time, in reference to the timing of a Safety Car.

“Yeah, I mean it’s how it goes in racing. Sometimes it works out for you, sometimes it doesn’t.”

Norris reflects on Leclerc battle

Norris said he hoped he could coax Leclerc into making a mistake as he hunted the Monegasque down for much of the race.

“He didn’t make many for sure,” Norris admitted, “but I think especially the final stint, I managed to get the tyres into a good window and draw back a few seconds, re-attack and I managed to kind of catch him a bit more off-guard, let’s say, with a couple of laps.

“So a good result in the end. For a minute I was not expecting to finish second. I thought he was just a bit too quick for us to get back into second and his pace was perfect.”