Red Bull man Max Verstappen came within a few metres of inadvertently wiping out Lando Norris at the fastest corner of the track during Japanese GP qualifying earlier on Saturday.
The defending world champion came close to wiping out the British McLaren driver by making a sudden movement across the track in the final segment of the qualifying session.
Luckily for the Dutchman, he has escaped punishment for the incident, and he will start on pole position. The video footage nonetheless shows the lightning quick reactions Norris needed to avoid smashing into Verstappen ahead.
Verstappen avoids punishment for Norris near miss
Despite a tough race last time out in Singapore, Max Verstappen can claim his second world championship by winning this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix and taking the fastest lap.
His weekend got off to the perfect start when Verstappen took pole in the early hours of Saturday morning Irish time.
For the second week in a row, however, Verstappen had issues during qualifying, and he was put under investigation for a terrifying near miss with Brit Lando Norris.
😲😲😲 pic.twitter.com/tZn7S88n7Y
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) October 8, 2022
Both drivers were warming up their tyres for a timed lap, with Verstappen ahead of Norris.
Coming through the fastest corner on the track at 130R, Norris put his foot down, and found a slow moving Verstappen on the racing line. When Norris went to the left to move past the Dutchman, Verstappen made a sudden swerve to the left, and Norris was forced to slip and slide his way onto the grass, just about keeping the car going in a straight line.
The cat-like reactions from Lando Norris prevented what could have been an enormous collision. Onboard footage showed Verstappen simply misunderstood which side Norris would attempt to overtake on, and that he also got some wheelspin while trying to warm up his tyres, causing him to slide into the McLaren's path.
Verstappen escaped without receiving a penalty for the incident, and when the pair were spotted walking through the paddock together, Verstappen said they were "always friends".
"We're always friends" 🤝
Ted grabs a quick word with Max as both he and Lando make their way back from the stewards 👇 pic.twitter.com/aTrCeO3efm— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) October 8, 2022
Despite this, Norris was adamant when speaking to the press that Verstappen's move to block him had been deliberate. He said that he believed he would have received a penalty if he had swerved into Verstappen's path, and said he was within his rights to get past the Red Bull.
I mean it was quite clear he tried to do that. There’s no rule on what you can do, but doing what he did is something that you cannot do.
People always overtake before the last corner...he probably would have done the same if he was in my situation, but I wouldn’t have swerved at him if I was in his situation.
Max Verstappen will start Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix on pole position, ahead of distant title rival Charles Leclerc. If they finish in that order and Verstappen takes the fastest lap, he will be the 2022 world champion with four races still to go.
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