Plummeting from second to sixth in his Turn 2 tangle with Max Verstappen, Lando Norris says he had to go for the gap, but with Verstappen, it’s a case of “crash or nothing”.

Norris lined up on the front row of the grid for the Miami Grand Prix, the McLaren driver having qualified second to Verstappen with a deficit of 0.065s.

To attack or not to attack, that is the Lando Norris question

As the lights went out, Verstappen was quick to cross the track to cover Norris’ challenge, the Red Bull driver holding the lead into Turn 1 when a small lock-up allowed Norris to draw side-by-side.

Into the second corner, Verstappen had the inside line and Norris found himself off the track. “He pushed me wide!” the Briton complained as he tumbled down to sixth place.

The stewards had a look at the incident and ruled that “no further investigation” was required.

As the race panned out, McLaren claimed the 1-2 by a whopping 30 seconds over their nearest rival, with Norris second to Oscar Piastri while Verstappen fell to fourth.

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The victory marked Piastri’s fourth Grand Prix win of the F1 2025 championship as he extended his lead in the Drivers’ standings to 16 points over his team-mate, Verstappen a further 16 off the pace.

But given Norris recovered from sixth to finish just four seconds behind his team-mate, it has been said by some pundits that he should’ve been more patient against Verstappen at the start.

He, however, disagrees as he reckons when racing Verstappen, it’s always a case of risk versus reward.

“There was a gap and I went for it,” Norris told Spain’s DAZN.

“I had the space and the right to be there, but that gap closed quickly. I can’t expect anything else.

“But I can’t not go for that gap because if I don’t, someone else will. It’s a difficult situation to be in.

“It’s always tough battling Max. I never expect it to be easy. But with him it’s crash or nothing. It’s hard to attack someone like that.”

As for whether the Dutchman should’ve been penalised by the Miami stewards, Norris said: “It doesn’t matter whether I agree or not because it’s out of my control.”

Dutch racing driver Jeroen Bleekemolen was one of those who believed Norris should’ve bided his time.

He told NOS’s Formula 1 podcast: “Maybe he should have given up his action in Turn One earlier, because then he might have been second behind Verstappen. Then he could then start the attack.

“They (McLaren) were much faster.”

He, however, doesn’t agree with the recent criticism of Norris who was called ‘weak’ by 1980 F1 World Champion Alan Jones.

“Of course he is being treated harshly, but that is also a bit because of himself,” said the 43-year-old. “After all, he says that he sometimes has a hard time on the mental level.

“It’s just that everyone is watching it and if he hadn’t done anything, they would have said, ‘why isn’t he trying?’

“The truth lies a bit in the middle there.”

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