‘Forgot to brake’ - Jos Verstappen takes swipe at Lando Norris

Jos Verstappen has criticised McLaren’s Lando Norris for being too “aggressive” at the start of the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Norris chopped across the front of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to defend his lead from pole position when the lights went out, but misjudged his braking and ran wide at Turn 1.

That allowed Verstappen to sweep past into a lead he never relinquished as the four-time world champion went on to claim a dominant victory ahead of Norris.

Verstappen has claimed Norris was too focused on his son.

"That was too aggressive. It was a close call between the two cars, and then they would both have been out of the race," Jos told Formule1.nl. "The problem is that Lando is only focused on Max, Max, Max, but meanwhile, he simply forgets to brake for the first corner.

"Max braked at least five metres earlier. So you could call that a mistake too. And Zak Brown has often talked about Max's driving style, saying he finds him too aggressive at the start, but I'm sure he'll have to address his own driver now.”

Norris admitted he made a mistake by throwing away the lead at the start, conceding he “f***ed up”.

Pressure on McLaren

Verstappen Sr believes McLaren will be feeling the pressure heading into the final two races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi after their double disqualification last time out.

That has left Norris just 24 points clear of Oscar Piastri and Verstappen with a maximum 58 still up for grabs.

“The pressure is on at McLaren now, and they'll feel it,” he added. “It’s still true that if Max wins the remaining races and Norris finishes second every time, Norris will become world champion. But Oscar Piastri is also there, and he won't be thrilled right now either.

"You can clearly see a difference between the two McLarens on track, how they handle corners. One slides, the other doesn't, and that raises questions.

“In any case, it's going to be a very exciting finale to the season, and for Max, everything has to go his way. But he still has nothing to lose and can go all out on the attack. And he will.”