Norris: Rule 'no one agrees with' helped Verstappen

Lando Norris was left to rue misfortune on a day when Max Verstappen grabbed this year's F1 drivers' championship by the scruff of the neck.

With Norris starting from pole position and Verstappen 17th, it appeared the perfect opportunity for the McLaren driver to take a considerable bite out of the Dutchman's 44-point lead going into the race.

Instead, Norris and Verstappen went in opposite directions as the former slipped to sixth by the chequered flag at Interlagos - pending a stewards' investigation into a start procedure infringement - whilst the Red Bull driver rose to claim victory.

Only five drivers in the past 1121 grands prix in F1 history had previously won from 17th or lower, such was the magnitude of the 27-year-old's triumph that has pushed him 62 points clear of Norris with only 86 on the table.

It went wrong from the off for Norris as he was passed by Mercedes' George Russell on the short run into the first corner. After, bad luck struck when he and Russell both pitted for fresh inters just before a Franco Colapinto crash caused a red flag, affording the likes of Verstappen a free stop, and relegating the two British drivers to fourth and fifth.

"The wet start is a bit of a gamble," Norris told Sky Sports F1. "One day it will go your way, the other day not. That didn't change much.

"All of our position losses were just under the red flag with the free pit stop for the others. Unfortunate, nothing more.

"George probably felt like he won the race today, and he probably deserved to win the race more than anyone else. But sometimes just unlucky, and the rules go against you.

"A difficult day, I made a couple of mistakes that cost me against George and Charles [Leclerc]. It was a tough day, I did my best. I've had a lot of good races. It was about time something didn't go right."

Norris - We'll keep pushing

Assessing the call to pit, Norris could not blame his team but instead the regulations that gives drivers a free tyre change under red-flag conditions.

"I have faith in the team in what they're saying to me," assessed Norris. "It was the right thing to do, we're just unlucky.

"I don't care about the hindsight of things. That's luck for them, nothing more. They got lucky.

"And a rule that no one agrees with. Probably today they will agree with it, but every driver has disagreed with it in the past.

"Today it benefitted them, it could have benefitted us if we'd stayed out, but that's a stupid thing to think.

"Of course, disappointing with the result. It could have been better. We'll keep pushing."