Lando Norris responds to Max Verstappen incident after Red Bull driver's brutal comment in cooldown room

McLaren’s Lando Norris has responded to an incident involving Max Verstappen which happened at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday.

Norris, 25, could not secure his second victory of the season as Verstappen, 27, pipped him to first place at the Suzuka Circuit.

But the pair battled it out, no more so than when they clashed as they exited the pit lane.

The McLaren driver was pushed onto the grass verge and claimed “he [Verstappen] forced me off” when speaking to his team via his radio.

Meanwhile, the Red Bull driver told his own team that “he [Norris] drove himself onto the grass”.

Although stewards confirmed no further action would be taken.

After the race, the pair were sat in the cooldown room while watching the race highlights together and the current F1 champion could not help but tease his rival with a brutal comment after the on-track clash.

"That's quite an expensive lawnmower," Verstappen quipped when referencing Norris being pushed onto the grass to which Norris seemingly saw the funny side.

But what did the British driver have to say about the incident after the race?

"It's racing, I think,” said Norris. “He [Verstappen] was still ahead, it kind of squeezes into one, and Max is the last guy I expect to give me any space… in a good way, in a racing way. So, nothing more than that.”

"I guess I just lost out yesterday," Norris added in reference to Saturday’s qualifying.

“Max drove a good race today, no mistakes. The pace was too similar today to do anything more. Long race, a lot of pushing.

"It was a flat-out race from start to finish, so tough, but just not enough today, nothing special that we had that we could get Max on. They were quick and no mistakes, so he deserved it."

Norris also spoke to Sky Sports and explained: "He had the right of line. Nothing to complain about, just a bit of action for the TV!"

Max Verstappen on pressure from McLaren drivers

After the race in Japan, Verstappen explained how he was "quite calm" despite him being chased by the McLaren duo of Norris and Oscar Piastri.

“I was quite calm,” the Dutch driver told F1.com. “I’ve been in this position before, but I just tried to focus on my own laps, trying to not make any mistakes, making sure that the balance was driveable, because of course throughout the stint the tyre life, it definitely changes the balance a bit front to rear.

“But we managed everything really well, and just very happy with this result. And then of course with that pit lane thing, yeah, it was tight.”

However, he could not help but issue a further dig after his clash with Norris, Verstappen joked: "I think the grass was not really well cut on the right-hand-side, and Lando saw that aswell, so he made sure it was nicely cut!"

F1 returns next weekend as Bahrain plays host to the season's fourth race.