Lando Norris retracts comments on Max Verstappen after 2022 Japanese GP qualifying incident

Lando Norris admitted to having talks with Max Verstappen after a near run-in in the qualifying session for the 2022 F1 Japanese GP. He retracted his strong comments which were an initial reaction to the incident after the Dutchman had apologized to him.

Asked by Sportskeeda if his views had changed about the incident after a debrief with Verstappen post-qualifying, the Briton replied:

“No, I did a little bit. Of course, he says he didn’t mean to do anything wrong... And a little bit... When you look at the onboard and it’s not clear exactly what he tries to do. So I don’t know, I really don’t know what comments to have for it. And of course I said initially what I thought happened. But after discussing it maybe it’s not so much the case, but yeah Max already apologised to me for doing what happened, in kind of ruining my q3 so, we spoke but not too much.”

The McLaren driver understands that it was unclear what the Dutchman was trying to do looking at the onboards, but when he spoke to his friend-cum-race rival, he was more understanding of the situation.

Answering Sportskeeda's question in the team media debrief, Lando Norris clarified that the strong remarks earlier, where he felt Max Verstappen deserved to be penalized, were an initial reaction to the incident. The duo have been the closest of friends in the F1 paddock since the beginning and are often seen enjoying a fun camaraderie or debriefing their sessions and races together.

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Max Verstappen not focusing on 2022 F1 world title just yet

Max Verstappen claimed that the 2022 F1 world title is not his focus at the moment, despite inching closer to grabbing it in Japan. The Dutchman feels he will need a good start and a clean race to clinch his second world title in Suzuka, therefore, he would prefer to focus on the race rather than thinking about the title.

Speaking at a press conference after the qualifying session for Sunday's F1 Japanese GP, Verstappen said:

“I’m not thinking about it too much. Just taking it day-by-day. I think what was most important is that we would have a competitive car and clearly we had that today in Qualifying, and I hope of course it’s going to be the same tomorrow in the race – because we do need a perfect race to be able to win it tomorrow. But at least it’s a good start.”

As it stands, Max Verstappen will have to clinch the race win and clock the fastest lap of the race to wrap up the title in Japan, or else it will roll on to the United States GP in Austin. The Dutchman currently leads his rival Charles Leclerc by 104 points in the drivers' championship and Red Bull lead Ferrari by 137 points in the constructors' championship.