Norris: Verstappen the last guy I expect to give me space

Norris and Verstappen pitted at the same time for their only stop during the Japanese Grand Prix, and while McLaren had their pit box closer to the pit exit, Red Bull—despite a far-from-ideal pit stop—managed to release the #1 RB21 just ahead of the #4 MCL39.

From there, Norris attempted an ambitious move, trying to pass Verstappen at the exit, which could've ended in tears had he not kept his car under control as he went through the grass.

Norris was immediately over the team radio, claiming Verstappen pushed him, which was not the case, as the stewards duly dismissed McLaren's complaint.

Speaking about the incident after the race, Norris said: "It’s racing, I think. He was still ahead, it kind of squeezes into one.

"Max is the last guy I expect to give me any space… in a good way, in a racing way. So, nothing more than that," the Briton added.

Verstappen managed to mug McLaren of what should've been a one-two for the team with the best car on the 2025 Formula 1 grid, and the job was basically done in qualifying after the Dutchman's stunning pole.

But Norris insisted on seeing the glass half-full; he continued: "I think it’s still been a very good weekend. Obviously, we didn’t get the positions that we wanted.

"We’re fighting for a win every weekend, but they deserved it. Both Red Bull and Max deserved it this weekend. They’re quick, they’ve been catching up, they’ve obviously made some improvements.

"As a team, we didn’t have enough this weekend. So we’re going to have to work harder for the next one," Norris admitted.

Verstappen managed to keep both Norris and his teammate, Oscar Piastri, at arm's length throughout the 53-lap race at Suzuka, and while McLaren showed more speed at some point, their drivers never came close enough to the leading Red Bull to launch an attack.

"I felt at times we were quicker but it was not enough," Norris reflected. "We just didn't have enough of an advantage. Nothing to complain about but things we need to improve with the car as we suffered a lot today.

"I was quicker in sector one than Max but the Red Bull is a lot quicker than us in slow-speed corners. It is too difficult to overtake here and our strengths and weaknesses were in the wrong spots," the McLaren racer concluded.

McLaren have raised questions with their conservative strategy, especially as they had two cars in the fight while Verstappen was fighting on his own, but they did not attempt an undercut or overcut to try and take the lead on track where there was only one DRS zone.

"We saw that staying out would not have been faster than pitting," McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said, defending his team's strategy. "We saw that from [Mercedes'] George Russell, who was fast on the hard tyres after pitting.

"It takes about eight tenths of a second to attack the car ahead. As soon as you get within one second you have dirty air and performance drops.

"Today I think it was not possible to overtake," the Stella concluded.

(Quotes from Sky Sports F1)