As the Formula 1 season has evaporated, so has Max Verstappen’s points lead over Lando Norris.
Perhaps patience is disappearing as well.
During Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix, the fierce rivalry reached a new level on lap 10 as two separate battles saw Verstappen send Norris’ McLaren offline.
Norris recovered to finish third while Verstappen was slapped with two 10-second penalties for the skirmish, dropping the three-time champion to sixth at the finish.
Norris acknowledged that while the two drivers respect each other on the race track, Verstappen went “just a bit too far.”
“I always go into these races and I expect good battles and fair battles,” Norris began. “Of course, I expect a tough battle with Max. I don’t want to complain about it, because this is what I love. I love going into races and knowing like, we’re gonna have a good battle today and he’s going to put up a good fight.
“I look forward to it. But things like today, just a bit too far in my opinion and obviously in the stewards’ opinions too and obviously the majority of people’s opinions too,” Norris continued.
“That’s just not how I think many people like to go racing. I respect Max a lot, I wanna race hard against him. But, I didn’t do what I did today and avoid him, I’d probably be out of the race.”
Norris is still well within the title hunt as he chopped Verstappen’s points gap to 47 markers with four races to go.