Norris hopes for cleaner battle with Verstappen: 'That's not up to me'
F1 News
Lando Norris has admitted he has sometimes "paid the price" for not being aggressive enough in his battles with Max Verstappen in Formula 1. However, the British driver stands by his "good decisons" and explains the benefits of his approach. He hopes for a cleaner weekend in Brazil, but claims that's not up to him.
Verstappen and Norris went head-to-head in both the United States and Mexico. Norris was penalised by the stewards in Austin, but the Dutchman was deemed at fault in Mexico. Norris was given five-seconds, whereas Verstappen got ten-seconds for something similar a week later. A lot of attention has been placed on the stewards decision, with some suggesting the stewards are being biased against the Dutchman. Johnny Herbert felt forced to explain himself which Verstappen responded to in Brazil.
Is Norris happy with the stewards?
Meanwhile, Norris has had his say on the matter. "I think the stewards did a good job. I think they have a very difficult job but they've done a good job. I think 99% of people who watch Formula 1 and know Formula 1 agree with that. I think we're happy from our side," Norris said in Brazil.
"I stayed out of trouble and I did my job also. Every weekend is a new weekend, right? So I don't know what to expect this weekend, obviously, I hope and I expect a cleaner battle than what we had, which is not up to me. I don't make the rules. I don't decide the penalties, I just drive," Norris added.
He then defended his own driving style, which saw have suggested has been strong enough to battle against Hamilton. "I think something I've done well my whole career is always normally stay out of trouble and keep the car in one piece. All those little things add up over a championship and over a season, especially in a cost cap season as well. But, I think I've always had the mentality to want to race fair and clean," Norris continued.
"Sometimes I've been on the too kind side, whether I was attacking or defending and things like that. But I think I've always made good decisions from that side and sometimes I've paid the price for not being aggressive enough, but the rest of it is not up to me, but I know how to keep the car in one piece, that's something I've done for a while.
"I'm only here because I avoided this or I've done that or avoided this person or that person. So there are more times that people realise that you go through those certain scenarios, and I think those are some of the challenges you have every now and then. But I'll come into this weekend with a new expectation. Hopefully we have clean fair racing and I think that's what we should expect," Norris concluded.