F1 News
Brundle teaches Norris a lesson on how to duel "street fighter" Verstappen
Martin Brundle has offered some rigorous feedback to Lando Norris on how to fight against Max Verstappen. The former F1 driver, who achieved nine podiums in his 158 Grand Prix starts, told Norris to stop welcoming the Dutchman up the inside. This comes in the wake of their duel at the United States Grand Prix, which ultimately saw Norris pick up a five-second penalty for overtaking off the track.
The battle between Norris and Verstappen has been the talking point during the week between the US and Mexican Grands Prix. McLaren invoked their Right to Review, but the FIA rejected it after a meeting on Friday.
Norris and Verstappen seem set to battle on track regularly until the end of the season. Norris is desperate to score as many points as possible to eat into Verstappen's World Championship lead, whilst the Red Bull driver is just focused on beating his rival to try and ensure the lead doesn't shrink.
Brundle tells Norris to change his approach
Brundle offered some advice to Norris after reviewing last weekend's incident. "Lando needs to stop putting the welcome out on the inside because Max Verstappen does not need a second invitation. He doesn’t need a first invitation to go up the inside if you’re leaving a car’s width. He’s a street fighter. He races hard. He games the regulations, he games them hard and he gains them well and he sometimes pushes the limit," Brundle said on Sky Sports.
Brundle reiterated his view that McLaren should have told Norris to give the place back to Verstappen, though he suggested the Dutchman should've given more space on the outside. His conclusion, though, was a problem with the regulations.
"The regulations simply don’t work. There are two reference points that they’re fundamentally based on those guidelines. One is position, relative to somebody else’s mirror. You can barely see your own mirror in those things, let alone somebody else’s. But also there’s a hard reference point of an imaginary apex. Now, where is the apex? Turn 1 in Austin is a really good example. The apex is actually about three quarters of the way around the corner. So you can’t have a set of guidelines that are based on an imaginary point, especially as the cars are not necessarily on the inside," Brundle concluded.
Want more Formula 1? Then follow GPblog on our various social media channels!