Norris: Congrats and hats off to Verstappen

On an intriguing afternoon at Suzuka, Norris was scrappy before delivering a mega lap when it mattered. He did so on Saturday, keeping Chinese Grand Prix winner and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri behind him.

But the Briton’s effort was usurped by one of Verstappen’s greatest qualifying laps. Norris began his parc fermé interviews by praising his rival – the driver who has become McLaren’s nemesis – on a day when a Papaya front-row lockout had been on the cards.

Norris said: "I'm happy. Congrats to Max. He did a good job. It's hats off. You have to credit something when it's a lap that good that he must have done. I feel I got everything out of the car. Just a tiny [margin], but Max did an amazing lap."

"For both of us to be up there is good, but it's not enough," said Norris, whose teammate Piastri will line up in P3. Each has a win apiece, with Sunday’s Grand Prix – Round 3 of the 2025 F1 World Championship – set to be a tie-breaker.

A moment during Q3 illustrated the narrow window between performance and overdoing it when running modern F1 cars on the edge. Norris explained: "I dipped a wheel on the exit of Turn 7, so just a couple of little mistakes, and it shows how easy it is to lose lap time.

"My [last] lap was very good. If I were to go again, I probably wouldn't go as quick as I did. I feel like we were on the limit of what we had – we just didn't have enough today," lamented Norris.

Regarding his chances of doubling his win tally this season, Norris said: "That's the goal, but no one knows what the weather is going to do tomorrow. It could be another race like Australia. It will be an exciting race. We want to get past Max, but he will put up a good fight. I've been there before, so I'm excited for it."

Ahead of Sunday's Grand Prix, Norris leads the 2025 F1 Drivers' standings by eight points over Verstappen, with Piastri P4 and ten points adrift. McLaren Lead the Constructors' table with Mercedes leading the chase in P2.