Brutal Lando Norris take after Max Verstappen ‘game’ backfires

David Coulthard says Lando Norris failed in trying “to play Max Verstappen at his own game”.

Norris aggressively moved across the front of Red Bull’s Verstappen as he defended the lead from pole position on the run to the first corner at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

But Norris misjudged his braking point and ran wide, enabling Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell to sneak past.

The Briton eventually fought back past Russell but finished second to Norris, before being disqualified for excessive plank wear on his McLaren. 

Former Red Bull F1 driver Coulthard believes Norris only has himself to blame for his failed defence at the start of the race,

“Lando Norris tried to play Max Verstappen at his own game, the problem is that he doesn’t know the rules of that game,” Coulthard said.

However, 2009 F1 world champion Jenson Button praised Norris’s aggression when speaking to McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown.

“The start was obviously very aggressive by Lando, it was lovely to see that aggression but it looked like he just went a little bit deep into Turn 1,” Button said.

Brown replied: “Yeah, exactly. Max got a little bit better jump and Lando went to protect and just cooked it a little bit. But good to see he wasn’t going to make it easy.”

Norris admits he “f***ed up” his start

Norris immediately held up his hands for making a mistake as he threw away the lead at the start of the race.

“I fucked it up,” Norris conceded during the post-race podium interview. “I just braked too late.

“I’ve obviously had a good run. I think the pace was still good today.

“Max just drove a good race and they were quick. I made the mistake into turn one. You’ve got to be punchy into turn one, I was just a bit too punchy and that cost me.

“So that’s the way it is sometimes. It’s still a good result, second, and still good points, so it’s not like I’m too disappointed.”