Verstappen brushes off Norris clash as stewards investigate

Max Verstappen has claimed pole position for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix - but it remains provisional while the FIA race stewards investigate an incident that happened early in the final round of qualifying at Suzuka.

On their out-laps, McLaren's Lando Norris had closed up on the back of a slow-going Red Bull and moved to overtake, when Verstappen then tried to speed up only to briefly lose the back end of the RB18.

As the rear of the car ahead kicked out, Verstappen chopped across the nose of the McLaren and Norris was forced to take avoiding action. He went on to the grass at turn 15, which left his tyres dirty for the start of his flying lap.

• Read also: Verstappen sets sights on title with Suzuka pole

Verstappen went on to set the fastest lap of Q3 to take pole, while Norris was P10 at the chequered flag. The stewards declared they would investigate the matter after the session, but Verstappen appeared unconcerned.

"I was just driving quite slow and I wanted to accelerate but my tyres were quite cold, so then I had a big moment," he told the media in parc ferme later.

"Then of course Lando is trying to pass me at the same time so he's trying to avoid [me]," he continued. Although he waved an apology to Norris on their cool-down lap, he made it clear that he felt Norris was out of order.

“We were all lining up to try and create a gap to everyone, and somehow he still wanted to get me into the chicane," he said. "But I was at the point of accelerating.

"I was on very cold tyres, so I had like a little moment and that’s why he had to drive around me," he continued. "Basically by trying to pass me you create that kind of problem

“If you’re just a bit more respectful then everyone is anyway already lining up, I don’t think anyone is trying to pass into that last chicane."

The flying lap that followed the incident proved to be Verstappen's best time of Q3, with his final run proving scrappy and a chunk of bodywork at the rear of the RB18 becoming detached over the kerbing.

"I lost a part of the [brake] duct so that's probably why I couldn't improve," he confirmed. "Never the less, the first lap was good enough.

"Of course super happy to be on pole but in general super happy to be here," he summed up. "It was pretty incredible to drive here again. On low fuel, these cars really come alive through the first sector."

Verstappen will still have to meet with the stewards to discuss the incident with Norris, but Red Bull team principal Christian Horner felt that Norris shouldn't have tried passing Verstappen at that point.

"They both were on outlaps and there is a gentleman's agreement between the drivers that when you get to that part of the circuit that you hold position and you file through the last corner one by one," Horner told Sky Sports F1.

"Lando decided that he wants to jump the queue as they head up to that final chicane," Horner continued. "They were following each other around the lap until that point.

"I don't think [Max] expected it. He was warming the tyres up to start the lap, they go one-by-one through the chicane," he added. "They are all doing different things on the out lap and I can only assume that Lando wanted to blitz it into the chicane."

But Norris had a different view of the incident, and said that he fully expected Verstappen to be penalised for blocking - which could possibly cost the Dutch driver his pole position.

“Come on, what does it look like? Of course, he just tried to go left and down into me," he said over the McLaren team radio at the time of the incident.

"It was quite clear he tried to do that, yeah," Norris subsequently told Sky Sports F1 when asked if he felt Verstappen intentionally blocked him.

He denied that there was any agreement between drivers not to try passing on out laps at that point of the track.

“People always overtake before the last corner. As much as everyone always agrees to it, everyone always does it, so it doesn’t matter," he said.

“He probably would have done the same if he was in my situation. But I wouldn’t have swerved at him if I was in his situation.”

"There’s no rule on what you can do, but doing what he did is something that you cannot do," he said, adding when asked if Verstappen should get a penalty: "Oh yeah, for sure.”

Since the incident didn't happen on a flying lap, any penalty for Verstappen is likely to be be limited to a reprimand or fine rather than a grid drop that would put him behind Ferrari rivals Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

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