Norris spoke out several times about the pace of his rival, including on the team radio and in the cooldown room. Although he clearly stated that Verstappen was holding up the race, he did not explicitly say that he believed it was on purpose.

At the post-race press conference, Norris was asked if he thought Verstappen had deliberately slowed him down to bring Charles Leclerc closer. “Did you ask him?” Norris responded, then, after hearing that Verstappen denied it and reported his tires were worn out, briefly answered: “I have no idea. So that’s all I’m going to say about it.”

Starting from P4, Verstappen took the lead by adopting a different strategy from the competition. The McLaren and Ferrari drivers all started on mediums, to later switch to the hard compounds. Verstappen and Red Bull did the opposite, which meant the Dutchman initially continued for a long time on the hards, then went almost to the end on mediums.

Red Bull thus gambled on a late safety car or red flag, which would have given Verstappen a free stop – and with it, an almost certain victory. Norris admitted that the situation made him nervous. Charles Leclerc, on the other hand, said he saw Norris making more and more mistakes towards the end of the race. The Monegasque was chasing a second F1 win in his home country, but ultimately had to settle for second place.