Verstappen dismisses 'mind readers' in controversial Norris incident

Max Verstappen believes it is impressive that "people can read my mind" in the controversial incident involving Lando Norris in the US Grand Prix.

McLaren has since launched a right of review protest into the five-second time penalty received by Norris after he tried to overtake Verstappen for third place at Turn 12 on lap 52 of 56.

Verstappen forced both out wide, with Norris overtaking off the track and being handed the penalty, which promoted Verstappen back up to third in the final results. 

The three-time world champion has drawn criticism from some who felt he 'gamed' F1's overtaking guidelines by not attempting to take the conventional line into Turn 12 and always planned to run Norris wide. It is something he found amusing.

"It is quite impressive that people can read my mind," Verstappen said when asked by media including RacingNews365 about the comments. "It is crazy, I mean I always try to make a corner. 

"I didn't want to look for a shortcut and we've always said that we want to race each other hard, that is what we like to do."

Verstappen's defence

Prior to the flashpoint, Verstappen had mounted a strong rear-guard action against Norris, holding the McLaren at bay for multiple laps. 

This was despite brake troubles on-board his RB20 machine.

"It was quite a difficult second stint, I lost a lot of grip on the front-axle, it was very difficult to brake," he said.

"That made my defence more difficult because I knew that if I would brake a little bit too late, I could lock up and didn't really have the front grip. 

"It wasn't easy for me out there, but it was still positive, and it showed some promising signs that maybe we could be back into the fight."