Verstappen is a nightmare on track for friend Norris and foe Hamilton

"I'm obviously not going to make it easy for him towards the end of the season," Verstappen uttered that one sentence after the race with a big smile on his face. It says everything about who Verstappen is. Deep down inside, he is a pure racer. From an early age, he was raised to win by his dad, Jos Verstappen. Anything other than winning is not enough.

Verstappen said with a smile that the attack on Norris at the first corner was already planned. Everyone already knew that attack was coming, except Norris. In fact, the latter left the door open like a true gentleman, which Verstappen gratefully took advantage of.

Does Verstappen race differently against Norris?

When the battle between Norris and Verstappen started to take serious shape, many suggested it would be different this time. They said Verstappen would race differently against Norris than Hamilton. Norris is a friend and generational colleague of Verstappen, and with three world titles under his belt, his aggressiveness and sheer will to win might be less.

In Austria, it became clear that this was not the case for Verstappen. Friend or not, you don't easily pass Verstappen on the track. Norris paid for that with a DNF in Austria, but he had not yet learned his lesson from that. In Austin, he let himself down again.

On the first lap, Verstappen showed how well he can attack. Give Verstappen a small gap, and he worms his way through. For Verstappen, the lead of the race was an afterthought anyway. It didn't really matter to him that Leclerc got through. The only goal was to get ahead of Norris after turn one. In that mission, Verstappen succeeded. He even got help from Sainz, who got in between the two.

In such an attack, Verstappen is no gentleman, and in the process, he behaves no differently in 2024 than in 2021. Just put this attack next to the one in Spain or Imola in 2021. They are identical actions, where Verstappen knows he won't get many chances to pass a rival and so will strike at the first opportunity.

Once on the inside of a rival, Verstappen will never leave much space for the driver on the outside. This is not universally appreciated, but why should he wait? You want to get in front and push your rival as far back as possible. Whether it's Hamilton or Norris, Verstappen doesn't care.

Will Norris go after Rosberg?

In defending, Verstappen is just as ruthless. Verstappen will never give the inside as a gift, so you will have to go all the way around. If you're on the outside, you have to ensure you can squeeze Max into the corner; otherwise, he will push you outside. Norris apparently hadn't learned that lesson yet.

After Austria, Verstappen showed how easily he can separate on-track action from off-track friendship. He chose to contact Norris after that race and start the conversation together. Verstappen also stated that friendship was important to him. However, nothing will change about his actions on track. After all, winning is in Max's DNA.

The big question is how long Norris can keep this up. From everything, it is clear that Norris wants to race in a 'proper' way. Like a gentleman, as the British like to see. That way, however, you will not win against a street fighter like Verstappen. Verstappen is a friendly person outside of the cockpit, but he is your worst nightmare on the track.

So far, Norris seems capable of dealing with it well. After the race, he put the blame on himself. After all, he had raced like a 'muppet' and defended poorly, whereas Verstappen had raced well in his opinion. Still, it seems like Norris will have to break away, just as the friendship between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton broke down. After all, it is hard to keep smiling while being beaten time and again by someone who is simply more talented than you. Rosberg eventually decided to change tactics in the search for success; the question is whether Norris is willing to do the same. In doing so, you put a friendship at risk but would bring a world title closer. Otherwise, you remain the eternal number two.