Jos Verstappen: Lando Norris 'forgot to brake' in "aggressive" Las Vegas lunge

Jos Verstappen has criticised Lando Norris for an overly aggressive start in Las Vegas

Jos Verstappen argued that McLaren's Lando Norris was only focused on his son, Max Verstappen, which led to the Briton's "aggressive" move at the start of the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Norris, who started from pole position, lunged across the track at the first corner of the race around the streets of Sin City to block the four-time champion.

"That was too aggressive. It was a close call between the two cars, and then they would both have been out of the race," Jos told Formule1.nl. "The problem is that Lando is only focused on Max, Max, Max, but meanwhile, he simply forgets to brake for the first corner.

"Max braked at least five metres earlier. So you could call that a mistake too. And Zak Brown has often talked about Max's driving style, saying he finds him too aggressive at the start, but I'm sure he'll have to address his own driver now."

He added, looking ahead to the final two rounds of the season: “The pressure is on at McLaren now, and they'll feel it. It's still true that if Max wins the remaining races and Norris finishes second every time, Norris will become world champion. But Oscar Piastri is also there, and he won't be thrilled right now either.

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images

"You can clearly see a difference between the two McLarens on track, how they handle corners. One slides, the other doesn't, and that raises questions. In any case, it's going to be a very exciting finale to the season, and for Max, everything has to go his way. But he still has nothing to lose and can go all out on the attack. And he will.”

This weekend's Qatar Grand Prix kicks off the final two rounds of the season and will feature the final sprint race of the year.