Lando Norris uses Max Verstappen's iconic quote to counter F1 reporter's hypothetical US GP question

Lando Norris used Max Verstappen's iconic quote from 2024 when an F1 reporter posed a hypothetical question about the United States Grand Prix on Sunday. Verstappen won the race from pole, while Norris finished where he started, in P2.

The pivotal moment of the 56-lap race at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, came on the opening lap. Verstappen got off to a good start off the line and held P1 going into Turn 1 and beyond. However, behind him, there was action early on, as Charles Leclerc, who started in P3, overtook Lando Norris for P2 after Turn 1.

Thereon, the Ferrari driver made life difficult for Norris and held onto P2 for 20 laps, which cost the Briton big. It was on lap 21 that the McLaren driver finally passed Leclerc in Turn 12 after the long straight. Unfortunately for Norris, by then, Max Verstappen had extended his lead by around 10 seconds.

Though Norris reduced the gap in the second half of the race, the lead was insurmountable. In the post-race press conference, a reporter asked the McLaren driver what he thought would've happened if Charles Leclerc hadn't overtaken him on the opening lap.

"Who knows?" Norris replied before turning to Max Verstappen. "What was it that you said once? 'If your mum had balls... yeah, she'd be your dad'. (Laughs) Yeah, who knows."

Verstappen had used the hilarious analogy after the 2024 Miami Grand Prix, where he finished second to Lando Norris. An unexpected safety car had given Norris a free pit stop from the lead, and Verstappen lost the advantage he had gained, leading to the questions about what would've happened if the safety car had not been deployed after the incident between Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant.

Lando Norris fed up with hypothetical questions after F1's United States Grand Prix

F1 Grand Prix of United States - Source: Getty

The question of Charles Leclerc potentially not overtaking him wasn't the only hypothetical question Lando Norris was asked. A reporter asked the McLaren driver whether he regretted not starting the race on the soft tires instead of the mediums, as Leclerc had done, and got off to a better start.

Norris was not sure how to answer the question, and replied:

"I mean I regret not putting a perfect lap and not going yesterday in qualifying. You know, you can’t ask these questions. I mean, you can do many different things, you never know what’s gonna work out. I don't think our strategy was wrong. I think we did a good job."

In retrospect, the only thing Norris said he would probably change was the timing of his pit stop.

"Potentially, we should've looked back and see if we should've just boxed as soon as we got ahead of Charles or just try an undercut (instead of overtaking on track) and see if that works out," the 25-year-old said.

Lando Norris pitted to ditch the medium tires and fit the softs on his MCL39 on lap 33, while Leclerc pitted on lap 23 to switch from the softs to the mediums. Leclerc was ahead after the round of pit stops, and Norris had to overtake the Ferrari driver again on lap 51 to secure P2.

Edited by Yash Kotak