Lando Norris has been told to fight fire with fire in his battles with “bully” Max Verstappen by a former F1 star.
The 2024 title rivals have been involved in flashpoints in the last two grand prix. As they battled over third place at the US Grand Prix, Norris overtook Verstappen off the track after being run wide by the Red Bull driver.
While the McLaren star finished third on the road behind the Ferraris, he was hit with a five-second penalty and lost his place on the podium.
They were at it again last weekend in Mexico, with Verstappen this time being hit with two 10-second penalties for driving Norris off the track twice in the space of a few corners.
The Dutchman is renowned for his brutal tactics, which were also to the fore during his epic title battle with Lewis Hamilton in 2021. Despite his pair of penalties in Mexico, Verstappen has no intention of changing his ways.
With that in mind, former McLaren and Williams star Juan Pablo Montoya has told Norris to tougher up and even risk crashing into Verstappen, whom he branded a “bully”. The seven-time grand prix winner, 49, told Instant Casino:
“It is surprising that Lando just gets out of the way. Max is the bully. As a racer, it is not what you want to see but it is a smart play. Max is more used to guys like Lewis, who wouldn’t stop at taking him out.
“Max has two approaches; if he is desperate for pace, which the Red Bull has been, Max can try to run Lando over and crash and take the points away.
Or if he doesn’t have the position to do that, he will just ride around and take the points. That’s all he has to do. It’ll be hard for Lando to win from here.”
Norris and Verstappen are friends away from the track but Montoya said:
“When you have a guy like Lando, who is very fast and a very clean driver, you can’t go trying to fight a championship against Max with Lando saying how much respect he has for him and that he's the best driver in the world.
“You might think that, but he shouldn’t be saying that publicly. I really like Lando, but he needs to speak a little less and not play the victim. You won’t win by playing the victim. You might win some battles, but you are going to lose the war.
“At some point, Lando needs to stand his ground and say, ‘screw you, I can crash into you and it’s OK’.”
Montoya expects more “fireworks” at this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix, where Norris is second on the grid for Saturday’s Sprint, with Verstappen fourth.
“We will see more fireworks in Brazil. F1 is getting so good right now,” added the Colombian, who was a fiery racer himself during his F1 career which ran from 2001 to 2006.
