Max Verstappen claps back at George Russell's claims that he races Lando Norris more aggressively: "He should just speak for himself"

Max Verstappen has responded to comments made by George Russell that the Dutch driver is being more aggressive against Lando Norris since the Briton is his direct rival in the championship.

The 2024 F1 US GP once again saw the Red Bull driver battle the McLaren driver. The battle was intense, and it involved Verstappen pulling out all the stops. The driver was especially aggressive when it came to defending under braking, and the battle would end with both drivers going off and Norris overtaking his rival off the track.

The McLaren driver was given a 5-second penalty which meant he lost the position to his title rival. The move and the resultant adjudication have raised a lot of questions with many drivers and teams not happy with the guidelines.

George Russell was asked to weigh in on the battle, and the Mercedes driver said that he felt Max Verstappen was more aggressive against Lando Norris, and it was probably because the two are fighting for the title. He told the media, including Sportskeeda,

“It was a bit do or die. And I think he’s quite happy to drive in that manner against your title rival - which for me, I totally understand.”

Following this, Max Verstappen has, however, clapped back at such a suggestion. He said,

“At the end of the day he should just speak for himself,”

He added,

"It's quite impressive that people can read my mind. It's crazy. I mean, I always tried to make the corner. I didn't want to look for a shortcut. I don't even know what to answer to these people.”

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Lando Norris on Max Verstappen: "Only job was to beat me"

Talking about the incident and how Max Verstappen was driving against him, Lando Norris also claimed that the Red Bull driver had just one motive in the Austin which was to finish ahead of him. He said,

Max didn't care if he won, or second or third, his only job was to beat me and he did that. there are some little things I need to change, but I don't need to change my whole approach”.

Speaking of changes he might need to make, Norris added,

"I'll make the changes that I need to make, whether it's being more aggressive at times or less aggressive or whatever. I'll do what I think is right.”

The F1 drivers' championship battle between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris currently has the Red Bull driver with a lead of 57 points with just 5 races left. WIth the final stretch of the season now in sight, a lot would depend on the race in Mexico and if Norris could potentially close the gap to Verstappen at the front.