From his very first season in the highest level of motorsport, we’ve seen how the current four-time world champion has always been extremely aggressive. Initially against Mercedes and, starting last year, with Lando Norris’s McLaren, which has often suffered under Max Verstappen’s driving style. Nevertheless, the British driver continues to praise the Dutchman: fear or something else?
Last year, the situation was clear. From Barcelona onwards—when McLaren’s number 4 started becoming a real threat in the mirrors of Red Bull’s number 1—Verstappen switched mode. Until then, no one had managed to interfere with his races, dominated from the first to the last lap, but from that moment on, his world leadership came under attack.
It was then that Max Verstappen showed his claws, defending his position by all means, including some not entirely fair moves. We remember what happened in Austria, where he moved under braking and caused Norris’s retirement, or in Austin and Mexico, where in trying to resist attacks, he forced him off track. The same thing happened again this year in Miami.
Norris did nothing. He simply endured the Dutchman’s misconduct, who now—after what happened in Spain—is just one point away from a suspension. The McLaren driver, interviewed by YahooSport ahead of the Canadian GP, nonetheless continued to “defend” Max Verstappen.
“I don’t think he did anything wrong to me,” he said. “He raced me very hard, aggressively, as he has every right to do. At times, I admit, he made life very, very tough for me: again, it’s his right.”
“I keep saying I have a lot of respect for Max: for the driver, the person he is, and for what he has achieved in his F1 career. He has four world titles more than I do and has achieved far more victories than me. I admire those stats, those performances.”
As for the aggressiveness, he emphasized: “Some can be more aggressive than others, but everyone has flaws. I have them, maybe he has them too. I race as aggressively as I think is fair, and he does the same. It’s up to the stewards to decide what’s right and what isn’t.”
“Me? I believe I’m the best driver. Maybe not always. I believe I can drive faster and perform better than anyone else on the grid. But to maintain that level of performance consistently is very, very difficult, regardless of the conditions, the car you’re driving, or the opponent.”
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