Max Verstappen said the “copying” he experienced from Lando Norris has to be taken as a “compliment”.

While F1 2024 started with fresh Max Verstappen and Red Bull dominance, that momentum slowed with McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes all demonstrating race-winning pace. But, it was Lando Norris and McLaren who emerged as the fiercest threat.

Max Verstappen takes Norris ‘simply lovely’ as a ‘compliment’

A key race behind Norris’ title push was the Dutch Grand Prix where, in dominant fashion, he ended Verstappen’s perfect record on home soil, winning at Zandvoort by 23 seconds over Verstappen.

And after that achievement, Norris stole Verstappen’s trademark “simply lovely” line for use over McLaren team radio.

“Uh huh. Simply lovely, huh? Well done,” he said.

During an interview with Viaplay, Verstappen was asked about that Norris outburst, put to him that the Brit was stepping into the lion’s den saying that straight after defeating him in front of his ‘Orange Army’.

Verstappen replied: “Yeah. You have to see it as a compliment.”

Pressed on whether he felt Norris meant it as a compliment though, Verstappen added: “If you start copying people, it’s a compliment!”

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Norris would be quizzed on his “simply lovely” steal by Sky F1, as he explained that it was not intended as a “dig” towards Verstappen.

He said: “Well, I mean, he’s won a lot of races and he’s done a lot of things. I don’t know. I’m not prepared for it, I don’t prepare myself for it, so it just felt like the easiest go-to.

“Honestly, it doesn’t mean anything to me from my side.

“I’m not trying to make a statement, I just want to go and win and go home! I don’t care about trying to make statements to try and do all of this.

“It just popped into my head, so I thought I’d say it. It’s a fun thing, I can’t think of those things – I’m not trying to have a dig or anything, like a lot of people want to come up with and headline with and all of that nonsense.

“I don’t know, it was more of a funny thing to do, and obviously I respect Max a lot, so I stole one from the many, many wins that he’s got.”

Verstappen went on to win the Drivers’ title – his fourth in as many seasons – by 63 points over Norris, his iconic recovery drive to victory in Brazil all but securing the title, with Verstappen making it official at the following round in Las Vegas.

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