Max Verstappen says he has no sympathy for McLaren and argues he edged out Lando Norris at Turn 12 in Austin. Red Bull's rival has “complained a lot recently”.

Norris had been chasing Verstappen for third place for most of the second stint of COTA's 56-lap race when he attacked his championship rival outside the left-hander of Turn 12.

Verstappen defended the inside, popping up front at the apex and then sliding alongside until he ran all four tires off the track, forcing Norris to go wide with him on the outside.

Norris still had the lead, and both drivers and teams were divided over who should give way, with Red Bull arguing that Norris should not have overtaken off track.

The Brit decided to hold on to the position rather than let Verstappen pass again, which ultimately led to the stewards handing him a five-second penalty, which ultimately dropped him to fourth place behind Verstappen.

When asked by Motorsport.com if he understood McLaren's side of the argument, Verstappen replied: “No, I don't. I mean, they’ve been complaining a lot lately.”

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

“The rules clearly state that you cannot pass outside the white line. I’ve failed for this in the past too – I think 2017 or whenever that was, so I lost my podium that way.”

“So I just stayed calm and tried to do my best after that to get the car to the finish. It wasn't easy with the tires and the situation I found myself in. But overall, I still had a lot of fun with the fight we had.”

Verstappen was referring to McLaren having problems with Red Bull's plan to change the height of the front number plate, which had dominated the news agenda at the start of the weekend.

A similar incident occurred at the start when pole sitter Norris covered the inside of the Turn 1 hairpin but still left the door open for the Dutchman to squeeze through.

Ultimately both drivers retired, giving Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc a unique opportunity to pass en route to victory in the COTA race.

“There was a gap on the inside, so I tried,” Verstappen commented on his start. “This corner is very wide, so there are a lot of opportunities to go very wide or try to go very narrow.”

“I chose that option and this time I still came second and Charles was in front. I think it worked out pretty well for me because Charles was faster anyway, so he just pulled away.”

“Today wasn't the best race for us compared to yesterday – we just had problems with balance and grip. I couldn't really brake and turn the car, so I realized pretty quickly that I wasn't going to win the race. “I just tried to run my own race.