Surprising turnaround from Norris: 'I completely agree with Verstappen'

13:25, 19 Feb

byNicole Mulder

Lando Norris turns out to agree with Max Verstappen after all regarding the new F1 cars, the McLaren driver says in response to a question from GPblog.

After Verstappen’s sharp criticism of the new Formula 1 cars, and especially how they are driven, several drivers were asked for their take on the matter. In general, most drivers agree with Verstappen that racing hasn’t necessarily become more enjoyable, though not everyone minds it equally.

Norris does agree with Verstappen after all

One driver who said the exact opposite of Verstappen was Norris. During the first test week he said he actually found it great fun to drive these cars. A sarcastic remark, as it turns out from the Brit’s answer to a question from GPblog about Verstappen’s quote that if there are two camps, they consist of a small pop-up tent and a large party tent.

“There’s nothing wrong with a small tent. Honestly, I just wanted to say that. I didn’t want to complain about anything — I just wanted to say it and see what everyone’s reaction would be. So it’s been quite an amusing week watching how people reacted. It certainly made a lot of people comment and say all sorts of things, which has been pretty funny.”

Lando Norris does agree with Max Verstappen after all - Photo: Racepictures

In fact, Norris fully agrees with Verstappen on most points: “The cars are very different. Are they as enjoyable and as good to drive as last year? Absolutely not. Is it still a challenge and good fun out there? I’m certainly not going to change my job for anything else. I still have fun and it’s still the job that I love to do.”

Whereas Verstappen and Norris initially seemed to be at odds, the two now appear to be almost entirely in agreement.

“It’s certainly very different. Is it as pure, is it as beautiful to drive as last year? Does it look as incredible? Definitely not. And I agree with Max on a lot of comments — probably most of them. But it’s not that I don’t have fun out there. So there are two sides.”

Norris emphasizes that almost all drivers feel the same way as he and Verstappen: “I do agree with basically every other driver because I think every other driver has made their comments pretty clear. I just didn't want to come out to the media and complain to everyone on the first weekend back. I want to still enjoy my time and just say what I feel.”

“I think we know as a championship, and with the FIA and Formula 1, we’re trying to improve the car that we have now because it’s certainly not the purest form of racing and that’s what Formula 1 should be. A lot of the driving is focused on just trying to get the battery to work properly and less focused on how can you as a driver get everything out of the car? So, I completely agree with a lot of the comments. I just wanted to see everyone’s reactions for me saying something opposite,” Norris concludes with a laugh.