Explained: Why Lando Norris used Max Verstappen’s ‘simply lovely’ catchphrase

Lando Norris is adamant he didn’t “mean anything” by it when he used Max Verstappen’s “simply lovely” catchphrase after handing the Red Bull driver his most telling defeat of the season.

Norris fought back after losing the lead off the line at the Dutch Grand Prix, the pole-sitter taking P1 off Verstappen on lap 18.

Lando Norris: I stole one from his many, many wins that he’s got

And from there he just pulled away to win the Grand Prix by 22.8 seconds.

It was a telling defeat for Verstappen as it not only highlighted McLaren’s gains but also Red Bull’s troubles, and it was topped by Norris saying “simply lovely” to his race engineer as he recorded his second win of this season.

That, however, is Verstappen’s catchphrase.

It led to former F1 driver turned pundit Martin Brundle telling Norris he needs “ his own punchline ” while Daniel Ricciardo warned it could come back to bite him as Verstappen would “not have taken that very nicely or too well”.

But from Norris’ side there was no ill intent or taunt, it was simply what came to mind when McLaren congratulated him on his victory.

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“Well, I mean he’s won a lot of races and he’s said a lot of things,” Norris told Sky F1. “I’m not prepared for it, I don’t prepare myself for it, so it just felt like the easiest go to.

“It doesn’t mean anything to me from that 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 and trying to do all of this. It just popped into my head and 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.

“It was more a funny thing to do and obviously I respect Max a lot. So I stole one from his many, many wins that he’s got.”

Norris will line up on the Italian Grand Prix grid on Sunday chasing Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship having closed the gap to 70 points with nine races remaining.

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