Why Verstappen understands Norris' penalty frustration: 'Happened in 2017!'

Norris and Verstappen shared the front row of the grid in the United States. The two title rivals had a bit of a duel, and eventually, both lost out to Charles Leclerc. Verstappen moved ahead of Norris.

"There was a gap on the inside, so I went for it. That corner is very wide, so it gives you a lot of opportunity of going very wide or try to go really tight. I chose for that option, and I still came out second. Started second, came out second turn one. This time it was Charles in front. I think it worked out quite well for me because Charles was faster anyway, so he just pulled away. And from there, I just tried to do my own race," Verstappen stated in the press conference.

Verstappen refers to duel with Raikkonen

Verstappen was far ahead of Norris, but the McLaren driver came back and the two engaged in a tense duel. "I just tried to do the best I could to be honest. My balance wasn't great, I was not able to attack the corners. He was putting a lot of pressure, but around here, it's quite a cool track to defend. There are a lot of possibilities so it makes it good for racing."

The intense duel ended with a move from Norris. He overtook Verstappen off the track. The Red Bull driver has been in Norris' shoes before so he can relate to how Norris feels.

"I think it's quite clear, you can't overtake outside of the white line. I mean, I got done for it also here in, I think, 2017 or whatever it was, so I lost my podium like that. I just remained calm, tried to do the best I could after that to bring the car to the end because it was not easy with the tyres and the situation that I was in. But overall, I still really enjoyed that battle that we had," Verstappen concluded.

This article has been created in collaboration with Tim Kraaij