Verstappen not upset with 'good person' Norris

Dec.19 (GMM) Max Verstappen says he has no hard feelings after 2024 title rival and friend Lando Norris retracted a controversial comment.

After Verstappen’s impressive run through the field in treacherous conditions to win the Brazilian GP and all but guarantee his title triumph, Norris suggested it had more to do with “luck” than “talent”.

“First of all,” said the McLaren driver as he collected his runner-up FIA trophy in Rwanda a few days ago, “I retract that comment back there – where I said it was all luck, no talent.”

Verstappen told Viaplay this week that there was no need for Norris to have retracted the comment.

“I know Lando,” said the quadruple world champion. “At a moment like that, he is very disappointed and then you immediately have a microphone underneath your mouth and a camera in front of you.

“I know that Lando is simply a good person, and he doesn’t mean it at a moment like that. You answer like that because you’re frustrated. I don’t take that very seriously. It was a mental blow for him.

“He could have taken the championship to his advantage, but it was turned around.”

The 27-year-old says he wasn’t even bothered when Norris uttered Verstappen’s now famous triumphant catch-phrase – ‘Simply lovely!’ – after winning the Dutch GP.

“You have to take that as a compliment, don’t you?” Verstappen insisted. “If you copy someone, you compliment them.

“I wouldn’t do that myself, but I think they were very consciously thinking about it – ‘We have to beat him in Zandvoort, with the mental pressure’. That kind of thing.

“I don’t care about any of that. I’m not sensitive to that. I was just disappointed with the race, because we just came up short. Of course I’d rather win in Zandvoort, but mentally it doesn’t matter to me.”