Lando Norris has acknowledged that he now anticipates Max Verstappen to employ potentially illegal maneuvers against him, following their intense battle at the Mexico City Grand Prix. Norris stated that Verstappen, who he accused of not providing a “clean fight,” deserved the penalties he received. Verstappen was penalized twice for what were considered unacceptable moves, both in defense and attack, against Norris early in the race. The championship leader was handed two 10-second penalties for these incidents and finished sixth, with Norris securing second place. Verstappen had displayed similar aggression at the previous round in Austin, and Norris expressed disappointment that his title rival was driving in such a forceful manner.

“Today was not fair, clean racing,” Norris commented. “Therefore he got what he had coming to him.” The British driver felt that Verstappen, with a 57-point lead in the championship standings before the race, could afford to take risks at his expense. “Today I felt like I had to avoid collisions, and that’s not what you want to do in a race,” he said. “He is in a very powerful position in the championship. He is a long way ahead and he has nothing to lose. He knows how to drive and I am sure he knows today was probably over the limit.”

Verstappen admitted that the lack of performance in the Red Bull car had forced him to be more aggressive on the track. “The problem is when you are slower you are being put in these kind of positions, I am not going to give up easily,” he said. “At the end of the day it’s not about agreeing or disagreeing about the penalty. The biggest problem of today is the race pace, which is not good, and something we need to analyse. Because even without those penalties we had no chance at all to fight out front.”

McLaren CEO, Zak Brown, was clear and direct in his assessment that Verstappen deserved further sanction when asked if the penalties were sufficient. “Probably not enough,” he said. “It’s getting a bit ridiculous. I applaud the FIA stewards, enough is enough, let’s have some good, clean racing going forward.”

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