Lando Norris races Verstappen with ‘more respect’ than ‘aggressive’ Hamilton, analyst claims

Henry Valantine 26 Oct 2023 4:45 PM

Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris on the US Grand Prix podium. — Lando Norris raced his way into the top three of the US Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, prior to Hamilton's disqualification.

Former F1 team manager Peter Windsor believes Lando Norris treats Max Verstappen with “a lot of respect” on track, whereas he feels capable of taking on Lewis Hamilton in a more “aggressive” manner.

Norris defended late against Hamilton in the United States Grand Prix at the weekend, jinking late as he sought to defend second place on the road at the Circuit of The Americas.

While there were no complaints from Hamilton’s side around the move, the Mercedes driver eventually able to get by his younger compatriot, some fans felt the defence was a bit too late on Norris’ part.

Lando Norris races Max Verstappen with ‘a lot of respect’, but is ‘not afraid to race’ Lewis Hamilton

When discussing the move, Windsor believes Norris is “very good” in terms of how he races against his rivals on the track, without too many major incidents in his career to date so far.

But with Verstappen able to often march through in faster machinery, he believes that in itself brings with it an “aura” when the car behind is looking to get past that Hamilton might not, given McLaren are able to match Mercedes more often than not at the moment.

And with Norris looking to establish himself at the top level of Formula 1, rather than trying to outright race Hamilton more aggressively, Windsor feels that the McLaren driver is looking to bring himself to the top of people’s minds when talking about British F1 talents as well.

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“I suppose deep down inside Lando probably thinks, you know, Max is this incredible guy that seems impossible to beat and I suppose he does always treat Max with a lot of respect,” Windsor explained on a recentYouTubelive stream in response to a fan question about how Norris and Hamilton battled in Austin.

“I guess with Lewis he’s thinking, you know, I’m one of the young British new superstars and Lewis is one of the older British superstars and I’m not afraid to race with this guy, I think it’s more that probably.

“I think in general, Lando is pretty good in terms of racecraft and ethics on the track. I think if somebody asked me what do you think about Lando’s racecraft and how he drives with other cars, I’d say generally he’s very, very good.

“I suppose with Lewis, he’s not afraid to be pretty aggressive and maybe in your opinion [responding to the fan’s question, ed.], do something a bit ridiculous, but I think with Max, it seems that Max has a bit of an aura about him if you’re a driver like Lando and that may change, obviously, as time goes on.”