In a shocking twist of fate, Lando Norris was heard complaining loudly on McLaren’s team radio about Max Verstappen just before the start of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, accusing him of breaking Formula 1 rules. The Briton, who was starting from pole position, was concerned that the Dutchman’s large gap during the formation lap would result in him starting on colder tyres than the Red Bull driver. Things turned out very differently for Norris, however, as the FIA disqualified him from the race a few hours after the chequered flag fell, due to excessive wear on the floor of his car.
During the formation lap, the championship leader made no secret of his annoyance with Verstappen’s behavior. “He’s playing around with how much gap he’s leaving,” Norris complained, according to GPFans. He even pointed out that this gap exceeded the limit allowed by the regulations.
Norris identified the limit he was violating, addressing his team: “That’s way over the limit. He’s just playing around here, you can’t do that. It’s 10 car lengths, man.” This annoyance likely prompted his extremely aggressive move at the start, where he tried to pass Verstappen, but braked too late, causing him to open up and lose positions.
Whatever the exact cause of Norris’ mistake at the first corner, with Verstappen jokingly claiming that his rival was looking a little too hard in the mirrors and forgot where to brake, the result was that the Briton initially dropped to third place, after being overtaken by George Russell. Despite his recovery, which saw him take his McLaren into second place by the end of the race, he was unable to match the reigning world champion’s pace, with the final gap between them being more than 20 seconds.
