After hinting Lando Norris hampered his Singapore qualifying lap, Max Verstappen appeared to tease him with an Instagram story
Max Verstappen appears to have poked fun at Lando Norris on social media following the Singapore Grand Prix with an aptly timed photo on his Instagram story.
The pair's friendship was put to the test during the race weekend at the Marina Bay Street Circuit after the Dutchman hinted that Norris had hampered his final flying lap in qualifying.
"You can thank your mate for that. Hard luck," Verstappen's race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, said over the team radio after the driver missed out on pole position to Mercedes' George Russell. As Verstappen approached the final chicane on his flying lap, he came up in the dirty air of the McLaren driver, who was on a slow lap ahead of him.
The four-time champion sent a sly warning to Norris during his post-qualifying interview with David Coulthard. "That's what happens when there's a car in front of you just cruising two seconds in front. That's noted, it will be remembered as well," Verstappen said.
"Not Oscar," he added when asked to clarify which driver he was speaking about. "So that was a bit of a shame, otherwise I think it could have been close for pole.
"It's always very exciting here in qualifying. Of course, I'm disappointed to not be first, but for us this weekend so far has been really good. The car has been very competitive, so for us to be second again is very good."
During the race, Norris gained two positions at the start to take third place from his McLaren team-mate, and while it looked as though he would be able to close in on and overtake Verstappen for second, Norris was unable to make the move happen.
Lando Norris, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
"I don’t think we have maybe the best or clearest picture, and that’s the only reason we couldn’t win today," Norris said during the post-race press conference. "But the pace was, I think, also the best out there. It didn’t matter - I couldn’t get past Max. He didn’t make any mistakes and it’s too difficult to follow here.
"So a bit of a shame, but I did what I could. And even though I was feeling good with the car, and I felt like if I could get past Max, I’d be able to try and have a crack at catching George, and I think I would. It’s just too difficult to follow and too difficult to overtake."
Seeming to poke fun at the situation, Verstappen later shared a photo on his Instagram story of Norris behind him during the race.
Max posted this on his IG story 😂 pic.twitter.com/k6q9mnfnYp
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) October 6, 2025
Fans were quick to pick up on the potential reference. "He's always got perfect timing with those posts," one commented, while another added: "Hahaha. That's a message for Lando Norris alright."
"This is what dirty air looks like," someone else wrote.
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Category: General Sports
