While the spotlight was on the intense battle in front of the grid, there was some thrilling wheel-to-wheel action scattered throughout the field. One such moment was at the race start itself, as Lando Norris tried to get ahead of Carlos Sainz. Although good friends off the track, the incident was a good example of how things change when the helmet is on. The incident robbed Norris of a better race, and he blames Sainz for it.

With Norris starting in P5 and Daniel Ricciardo starting 11th, McLaren’s hopes were on Norris to challenge the Ferraris. However, Sainz quickly ruined those possibilities. And Norris believes it was his former teammate’s fault. “I don’t know if I turned too early, or he didn’t give me enough space or something.”

As drivers are starting to get more aggressive towards the end of the season, the battles have been intense. Norris argues he did his part in fighting clean. “I started to turn to the left and so did he … You always have to respect each other, right? I thought he was on the right side. I’ll see him again, but obviously, the position suited them much better than us.”

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The Briton explained his part of the story, stating that he had the better start and did all he could to put his car in the best position. “Obviously I do not want to crash, I thought he would leave space, but it was not enough.” The first lap collision ruined Norris’ chance of a better result, and with Ricciardo’s later DNF, McLaren had to settle with the poor outcome.

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Although in rival teams, Norris knows Sainz wouldn’t intentionally play unfairly; and the Spaniard states the same. Putting his points forward, Carlos Sainz said, “It’s a very fine line between who turns into who.”

Although the Ferrari had the slower start, he continued his race unscathed from the incident. “I don’t think I deliberately did anything against him. If anything I felt like he turned in a bit early into Turn 1 and we tangled.”

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Nonetheless, Sainz apologizes for what was a racing incident. “A racing incident, things that happen–sorry to him if I did something wrong, but to be honest I don’t think I did.”

After the incident at Turn 1, Norris stayed determined and charged P10 to bring home a single point for the team. As Ferrari drove away with a more comfortable lead in the P3 battle, McLaren is now left with three races to claim what was once theirs.

Watch this story: F1 Drivers Fighting on Track