Lando Norris has branded Max Verstappen as 'very dangerous' after the Red Bull driver almost passed him under a virtual safety car during the Singapore Grand Prix. The incident occurred as the two drivers battled on track before a VSC was deployed.
Norris slammed Verstappen's move over team radio, saying: 'Very dangerous there.' Footage later showed McLaren mechanics shaking their heads in anger at Verstappen's manoeuvre. The race was then turned on its head when Lewis Hamilton crashed while chasing Carlos Sainz for third place.
Hamilton hit the wall but was able to continue, slotting back on track between Verstappen and Norris before a full safety car was called after an incident involving Yuki Tsunoda. Verstappen and Norris resumed their battle after the restart, with Verstappen locking up his front tyres and going straight on at the same corner, returning to the track next to Hamilton.
Verstappen was forced to pit for fresh tyres after flat-spotting his rubber. His weekend had already unravelled after he was unable to complete his final qualifying run due to running out of fuel, forcing him to start from eighth on the grid. Verstappen swore at his engineers over the radio, saying: 'Why, why? What the f***, what the f*** are you guys saying? Unbelievable mate.'
After the session, Verstappen doubled down on his criticism, stating: 'It's incredibly frustrating and shouldn't happen. Even when you under-fuel it or when you don’t plan to do that, you track that throughout the session. We should have seen that way earlier. I’m not happy at all at the moment.'
