Lando Norris claims Max Verstappen 'taking the p***' by bending F1 rules

In what looks in retrospect like a cruel twist of irony, Lando Norris was heard complaining on his team radio about Max Verstappen bending F1 rules before the start of the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The Brit was starting from pole on Saturday night, with Verstappen lining up alongside him for the short charge into the first corner.

Seeing that the Red Bull star had got a slightly better launch off the line, Norris swung hard across to the left to cut off his title rival - only to outbrake himself and slide wide at the first corner.

Just minutes before, the championship leader had been on the radio to his team on the formation lap, complaining about the length of the gap Verstappen had been leaving in front of him, apparently concerned about the prospect of starting on much colder tyres than the man alongside him.

As it turns out, the Brit had bigger things to worry about. Specifically, the plank wear on his McLaren falling outside the legal limit and resulting in his complete disqualification from the race in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Norris: That's not fair, bro

"He's taking the p*** with how big of a gap he's leaving," Norris complained about Verstappen. "That's way over the allowed allowance. He's just taking the p*** here, you can't do this. It's 10 car lengths, bro."

It could have been that irritation with Verstappen which prompted such an aggressive move off the line - although he could argue (but didn't, post-race) that his cold tyres at the start resulted in him running deep at Turn 1.

Whatever the truth of the matter (Verstappen half-joked that his rival was 'probably looking in the rear-view mirrors a bit too long and forgot where to brake'), the upshot was that Norris fell to third.

He eventually dragged his McLaren up to second by the end of the race, but couldn't touch the pace of the reigning world champion out in front...and in the end, it didn't even matter.

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