Norris looks back on McLaren team spat

“Things are always going to go through your head because you have to be selfish in this sport and you have to think of yourself as priority number one,” said Norris an hour after the chequered flag.

“But I am also a team player so my mind was going pretty crazy. The gap between me and Max is pretty big but if Red Bull and Max made the mistakes like they did today, and, as a team we continue to improve, we can turn it (the championship) around.

“Yes, it is a big goal to say I can close 70 points in half a season. But you think of the seven points I gave away today, and that crosses your mind for sure. It was not easy but I understood the situation and I was quite confident by the last lap I would do it.”

Norris’ engineer Joseph did not appear as confident. Cue a pitwall domestic - which oscillated from embarrassing to the comical - played out in front of millions.

“I know you will do the right thing,” said Joseph, before he added: “You have proved your point.”

Norris protested: “I am fighting for the world championship, am I not?”

“I promise I am trying to protect you,” added Joseph. “The way to win a world championship is not by yourself. It is with the team and you are going to need Oscar and you are going to need the team...please do it now.”

Did Norris believe his team made the wrong decision?

“No,” he said. “I didn’t lose the win. I lost if off the line. I had a terrible start, a bad start. Something happened on my second shift and I lost momentum. I didn’t deserve to win.

“But I got put into the lead, rather than wanting to be there. That was a mistake. We made things way too hard for ourselves.

“We should have stopped Oscar first and we wouldn’t even be having this discussion. We need to talk about that. But after my start, I should not have had those points in my hand in the first place so the team were right and I stand by what they did.”

Norris, in his superior McLaren, insisted prior to Sunday’s 70-lap affair that he did not need to lay down a marker by converting his pole into a much-needed victory. However, he might now have won the last five races but for mistakes by driver and team. Instead he has finished runnerup in five of his previous nine outings.

At Red Bull, the once all-conquering Verstappen has failed to win in his previous three appearances. The Dutchman spent much of the race blasting his team and their strategy. Hamilton finished third. Verstappen crossed the line in fifth.