‘I’m not having a dig’ – Norris explains why he used Verstappen’s ‘simply lovely’ catchphrase after winning Dutchman’s home race

Lando Norris has insisted that he was not trying to make a statement by using one of Max Verstappen’s trademark radio messages after winning last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.

Norris beat Verstappen to pole position and victory on the reigning world champion’s home soil at Zandvoort, with his winning margin coming in at a whopping 22.8 seconds after a particularly dominant drive.

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When he took the chequered flag, Norris commented: “Uh huh. Simply lovely, huh? Well done.”

Asked during an interview with Sky Sports F1 about uttering the “simply lovely” phrase that has been used so frequently by Verstappen in recent years, Norris offered his side of the story.

“Well, I mean, he’s won a lot of races and he’s done a lot of things,” said Norris. “I don’t know – I’m not prepared for it, I don’t prepare myself for it, so it just felt like the easiest go-to.”

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Pushed if there was anything more behind the message, with Daniel Ricciardo suggesting that Verstappen “would not have taken that very nicely or too well”, Norris added: “Honestly, it doesn’t mean anything to me from my side.

“I’m not trying to make a statement, I just want to go and win and go home! I don’t care about trying to make statements to try and do all of this.

“It just popped into my head, so I thought I’d say it. It’s a fun thing, I can’t think of those things – I’m not trying to have a dig or anything, like a lot of people want to come up with and headline with and all of that nonsense.

“I don’t know, it was more of a funny thing to do, and obviously I respect Max a lot, so I stole one from the many, many wins that he’s got.”

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Norris’s second career win saw him cut Verstappen’s championship lead to 70 points with nine rounds remaining – including this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.