Norris complains after Verstappen opening lap incident: 'You can't win'

Lando Norris weighed in on his on-track tussle with Max Verstappen on the opening lap of the Miami Grand Prix, stating that he doesn't regret his daring overtake attempt on the defending Champion.

It was a weekend of ups and downs for Norris, who despite winning Saturday's sprint race and bringing up the rear in a dominant McLaren one-two in the Grand Prix, will likely leave Miami feeling disappointed.

Mistakes and misjudgements plagued the McLaren driver's performance on more than one occasion. An error at Turn 17 on his final flying lap in qualifying robbed him of pole position, which instead went to the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

Norris told the media after qualifying that he would attempt to get past Verstappen into the first corner of the 57-lap main race. This he certainly did, but it ended up costing the Briton dearly in the final results.

"It's Crash Or Don't Pass"

Norris tried to keep his MCL39 around the outside of Verstappen through Turn 2, but the Dutchman forced him off the track and retained first position. The McLaren tumbled down the order, falling to sixth by the end of lap one.

McLaren had by far the most dominant package around the Miami International Autodrome, and it didn't take long for Norris to overtake the slower cars ahead of him.

By lap 18 Norris was up to second place, and slowly ate into the significant lead of teammate Oscar Piastri. But the gap was simply too big, and Norris saw the chequered flag over four seconds later than Piastri.

• Read Also: Miami GP: Supreme Piastri leads dominant McLaren 1-2

Speaking after the Grand Prix, the 25-year-old couldn't hide his disappointment.

He said: "It's never the best feeling but the team have done an amazing job, so I can't fault them at all.  Good pit stops, great pace, we were up the road. It was a good feeling but Oscar drove well.

"Max put up a good fight as always and I paid the price, but it's the way it is," Norris added.

On his first lap incident with Verstappen, Norris believes that the outcome wouldn't have favoured him whether he attempted an overtake or not.

He continued: "What can I say? If I don't go for it, people complain. If I go for it, people complain, so you can't win.

"But it is the way it is with Max, it's crash or don't pass.

"Unless you get it really right and you put him in the perfect position, then you can just about get there. I paid the price for not doing a good enough job today, but I'm still happy with second," concluded the British driver.

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